Abstract
BackgroundThe proportion of Japanese workers experiencing intense worry or stress during working life is in excess of 60%, and the incidence of psychiatric disorders and suicide due to psychological burden from work duties is increasing. To confirm whether the stress response measured by the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) can identify risk for depression, a cohort study was conducted to evaluate whether the stress response measured by BJSQ was associated with the onset of depression.MethodsA total of 1,810 participants aged 20–70 years in 2005 completed the stress response of the BJSQ and were followed-up until August, 2007 by examining sick pay records. Depression was defined by a description in sick pay records that included “depression” or “depressive symptoms” as a reason for sick leave according to a physician's medical certificate. The participants were divided into quartiles (Ql, Q2, Q3, and Q4) according to the total stress response score of BJSQ at baseline. Furthermore, the participants were divided into a higher score category (Q4) and a lower score category (Q1–Q3). Risk ratios of the stress response of the BJSQ for onset of depression were calculated using a multivariable Cox proportional hazard model.ResultsAmong 1,810 participants, 14 developed depression during a mean of 1.8 years of follow-up. The risk ratio was 2.96 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–8.42, p for trend = 0.002) when the higher stress response score category of BJSQ was compared with the low stress response score category for sick leave due to depression. After adjusting for gender, age, marital status, and having children, the risk ratios were similar to no adjustment.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the stress response measured by the BJSQ can demonstrate risk for the onset of depression.
Highlights
Depression is a common mental illness and a leading cause of disability worldwide, with an estimated 350 million people affected [1]
Over 60% of workers in Japan reported experiencing intense worry or stress related to employment [3], and in 2008 over 50% of responding enterprises reported that ‘‘workers increasingly dealt with mental health problems’’ [4]
Age, working hours per day and administrative post, no significant differences was observed among the four quartiles according to the stress responses of Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ)
Summary
Depression is a common mental illness and a leading cause of disability worldwide, with an estimated 350 million people affected [1]. The number of suicides exceeded 30,000 over a 12-year period starting from 1998. Of these suicides, 30% were employees and salaried workers who had psychological burden related to work duties. Over 60% of workers in Japan reported experiencing intense worry or stress related to employment [3], and in 2008 over 50% of responding enterprises reported that ‘‘workers increasingly dealt with mental health problems’’ [4]. The proportion of Japanese workers experiencing intense worry or stress during working life is in excess of 60%, and the incidence of psychiatric disorders and suicide due to psychological burden from work duties is increasing. To confirm whether the stress response measured by the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) can identify risk for depression, a cohort study was conducted to evaluate whether the stress response measured by BJSQ was associated with the onset of depression
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