8259242 Prospective associations between psychosocial work factors and mental health service use

<h3>Objective</h3> The objective was to study the prospective associations between various psychosocial work factors and mental health service use. <h3>Material and Methods</h3> The study was based on data from the national French periodical ESPS survey (Enquête Santé et Protection Sociale) collected in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and linked to national medico-administrative data. Psychosocial work factors, measured using questionnaires at baseline, included quantitative demands, tensions with the public, low freedom at work, low possibilities for learning new things, low support from colleagues, low recognition at work, low satisfaction with salary, job insecurity, temporary contract, and redundancy plan. The number of exposures to these factors was calculated. Mental health service use from the medico-administrative data was measured by visits to office- and hospital-based psychiatrists within the 2-year period following each survey wave. The prospective associations between psychosocial work factors and mental health service use were studied using Cox proportional hazard models for clustered data with adjustment for covariates (gender, age, marital status, employee/self-employed worker, private/public sector, occupation, full/part time work, and survey wave). <h3>Results</h3> The study sample included 8094 working men and women who were free of depression at baseline. The 2-year incidence of mental health service use was 3.5%. Low freedom at work and low social support from colleagues were predictive of mental health service use. The higher the number of exposure to psychosocial work factors, the higher the risk of mental health service use. There was no gender-related interaction in these associations. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The study brought support for the prospective associations between psychosocial work factors and mental health service use. More attention should be given to multiple exposures to psychosocial work factors. <h3>Funding</h3> The French National Research Program for Environmental and Occupational Health of Anses (ANSES-23-EST-041)