Anxiety Disorder Journal

Depression, well known to reduce workplace productivity, causes significantly greater productivity declines when accompanied by common co-occurring conditions such as fatigue, sleep problems or anxiety, according to a large new study presented today at the American Psychiatric Association’s 160th Annual Meeting in San Diego.[i] The study also showed that co-occurring fatigue or sleep problems significantly increased depression-related healthcare costs.1

In the study, which used an integrated database of healthcare claims and surveys of almost 14,000 employees at two large U.S. firms, researchers analyzed data on healthcare spending and presenteeism (i.e., employees’ estimates of their own productivity while at work) to assess the impact of depression and other chronic conditions. 1

Overall, among the ten most prevalent physical and mental conditions measured, depression had the single largest negative effect on work productivity. That effect was magnified when fatigue, sleep problems and anxiety – conditions that often co-occur with depression – were also present. Further, while depression had significant adverse effects on productivity in the absence of other co-morbid conditions, effects of these other conditions in the absence of depression were not as pronounced. 1

“While depression itself has a significant economic impact, the negative effect on both workplace productivity and healthcare costs can be considerably increased when employees who are depressed also suffer from other conditions,” said Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D., Professor of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. “These findings suggest we should aim to identify and minimize multiple factors associated with depression early to reduce this burden.”

About the Study1

Methodology

Two large U.S. firms surveyed their employees about their productivity. The first sample, from a firm in the high-tech industry, consisted of 7,320 employees; the second, from a manufacturing company, included 6,490 employees. The companies then hired an independent data aggregation company to combine the survey data with medical and pharmacy claims data into a single database. The aggregation firm, in compliance with U.S. privacy laws, stripped out all information that could identify individual patients. This de-identified database was then used to compare and contrast the effects of depression and other conditions that often co-occur with depression, such as anxiety, chronic fatigue, and chronic sleep problems on absenteeism, work productivity and direct healthcare costs. Productivity was measured partly by reviewing absenteeism and partly by asking employees to rate their own “presenteeism”