Citation

Chong SA, Vaingankar JA, Abdin E, Subramaniam M. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 2013; 48(1): 117-123.

Affiliation

Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Buangkok Green Medical Park, 10 Buangkok View, Singapore, 539747, Singapore, siow_ann_chong@imh.com.sg.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00127-012-0526-5

PMID

22660835

Abstract

AIM: To examine the association between mental disorders and work disability in the adult resident population in Singapore. METHOD: Data are from the Singapore Mental Health Study, which was a household survey of a nationally representative sample. The main instrument used was the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Employment-related information was collected using the modified employment module of the CIDI. RESULTS: A total of 6,429 respondents were included in the analysis, 71 % (n = 4,594) were employed, 24.5 % (n = 1,522) were economically inactive and 4.5 % (n = 313) were unemployed. Among the employed, 2.3 % had a 12-month prevalence of at least one mental disorder, while 5.3 % of the unemployed had at least one mental disorder. The average number of work loss days (absenteeism) per capita among those with a mental disorder was 0.5 per month that is equivalent to an annualized national projection of approximately 0.3 million productivity days. The average work-cutback days (presenteeism) were 0.4 days among this group. Of the mentally ill in the workforce, a high proportion (86.5 %) did not ever seek help for problems related to mental health. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide information on the significant consequences of mental disorders on the workforce in terms of lost work productivity, which could pave the way for a more rational allocation of scarce resources.

Language: en