SynthesisPloS one2013
Are reports of psychological stress higher in occupational studies? A systematic review across occupational and population based studies.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in healthcare workers before and during COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis on the mental health of emergency and urgent call-handlers and dispatchers.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Work-related posttraumatic stress disorder in paramedics in comparison to data from the general population of working age. A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence of PTSD and common mental disorders amongst ambulance personnel: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2018Pooled it
- The Potential for Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Workplace Mental Health Promotion: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.PloS one · 2015Trial
- Feasibility and acceptability of a joint employee-manager workplace intervention to support mental health and job retention (MENTOR 2.0).BMC public health · 2026Article
- Comparative evaluation of nine insulin resistance indices for 10-year coronary artery disease risk prediction in non-diabetic adults.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Inequalities in NHS staff support among those from ethnic minority and migrant groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Mental health of healthcare workers in England during the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic: The NHS CHECK study cohort.PloS one · 2026Article
- Traumatic Events, Psychopathology, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the General Community and First Responders: Presence of Symptoms and Associated Factors.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- Futureproofing the healthcare workforce in Europe: understanding and addressing psychological distress and occupational outcomes.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2025Review
- Impact of Psychosocial Factors on Mental Health and Turnover Intention Among Health Workers at Different Occupational Statuses: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study in China.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- Current perspectives on the mental health of UK military personnel and veterans.British medical bulletin · 2025Review
- Mental Health and Lifestyle Factors Among Higher Education Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Inventory of Mental Health Services in Academia and Researchers' Awareness of Their Availability: Mixed Method Research Protocol and Pilot Study in Switzerland.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Sleep problems were unrelated to social media use in the late COVID-19 pandemic phase: A cross-national study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Prevalence of and risk factors for depression, anxiety, and burnout in U.S. neurosurgery residents.Surgical neurology international · 2025Article
- Sickness absence trajectories among young and early midlife employees with psychological distress: the contributions of social and health-related factors in a longitudinal register linkage study.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2025Article
- Review
- Mental health of Canadian Armed Forces Veterans: Review of population studies.Journal of military, veteran and family health · 2024Review
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe general health questionnaire (GHQ) is commonly used to assess symptoms of common mental disorder (CMD). Prevalence estimates for CMD caseness from UK population studies are thought to be in the range of 14-17%, and the UK occupational studies of which we are aware indicate a higher prevalence. This review will synthesise the existing research using the GHQ from both population and occupational studies and will compare the weighted prevalence estimates between them.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the prevalence of CMD, as assessed by the GHQ, in all UK occupational and population studies conducted from 1990 onwards.
resultsThe search revealed 65 occupational papers which met the search criteria and 15 relevant papers for UK population studies. The weighted prevalence estimate for CMD across all occupational studies which used the same version and cut-off for the GHQ was 29.6% (95% confidence intervals (CIs) 27.3-31.9%) and for comparable population studies was significantly lower at 19.1% (95% CIs 17.3-20.8%). This difference was reduced after restricting the studies by response rate and sampling method (23.9% (95% CIs 20.5%-27.4%) vs. 19.2% (95 CIs 17.1%-21.3%)).
conclusionsCounter intuitively, the prevalence of CMD is higher in occupational studies, compared to population studies (which include individuals not in employment), although this difference narrowed after accounting for measures of study quality, including response rate and sampling method. This finding is inconsistent with the healthy worker effect, which would presume lower levels of psychological symptoms in individuals in employment. One explanation is that the GHQ is sensitive to contextual factors, and it seems possible that symptoms of CMD are over reported when participants know that they have been recruited to a study on the basis that they belong to a specific occupational group, as in nearly all "stress" surveys.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.