ArticleBMC public health2021
Socio-economic consequences of mental distress: quantifying the impact of self-reported mental distress on the days of incapacity to work and medical costs in a two-year period: a longitudinal study in Germany.
Article in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of food insecurity on mental health among older adults residing in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of Fish-Oil Consumption on Psychological Function Outcomes in Psychosis: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Pooled it
- Culturally Adapted Guided Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Hong Kong People With Depressive Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- The effects of waiting time for outpatient psychotherapeutic interventions on patient-reported outcomes in adolescents and adults with eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Review
- Gig work dependence and psychological distress in chronic illness.SSM - population health · 2026Article
- Interconnected Challenges: Examining the Impact of Poverty, Disability, and Mental Health on Refugees and Host Communities in Northern Mozambique.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Coping With Chronic Illness: A Systematic Review of Adaptive Strategies Across Cancer, COPD, Diabetes and Heart Disease.Public health challenges · 2025Review
- Pilot study of an app-supported psychosocial prevention intervention: a mixed-methods approach.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Trends in health-related economic inactivity by smoking status in England, 2013-2025: a population-based analysis.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2025Article
- Gut microbiota and blood metabolites: unveiling their roles in hippocampal volume changes through Mendelian randomization and mediation analysis.Metabolic brain disease · 2025Article
- Development of a national Distress Brief Intervention: a multi-agency service to provide connected, compassionate support for people in distress.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Article
- Exploring the Relationship Between Dietary Habits and Perceptions of Mental and Physical Disorders, or a Sense of Accomplishment in Japan.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Rural-urban differences in common mental disorders among Indonesian youth: a cross-sectional national survey.Osong public health and research perspectives · 2024Article
- Article
- Determinants of the intention to seek psychotherapeutic consultation at work - a cross-sectional study in Germany.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Validation of a modified Chinese-language version of the Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (MCL-DACOBS) in a sample of Chinese patients with schizophrenia.Brain and behavior · 2023Article
- [Psychological Stress and its Consequences for the Cost of Illness: a Longitudinal Study in Germany].Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband der Arzte des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany)) · 2022Article
- The Multi-Sites Trial on the Effects of Therapeutic Gardening on Mental Health and Well-Being.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Smart Homes as Enablers for Depression Pre-Diagnosis Using PHQ-9 on HMI through Fuzzy Logic Decision System.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMental disorders are related to high individual suffering and significant socio-economic burdens. However, it remains unclear to what extent self-reported mental distress is related to individuals' days of incapacity to work and their medical costs. This study aims to investigate the impact of self-reported mental distress for specific and non-specific days of incapacity to work and specific and non-specific medical costs over a two-year span.
methodWithin a longitudinal research design, 2287 study participants' mental distress was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). HADS scores were included as predictors in generalized linear models with a Tweedie distribution with log link function to predict participants' days of incapacity to work and medical costs retrieved from their health insurance routine data during the following two-year period.
resultsCurrent mental distress was found to be significantly related to the number of specific days absent from work and medical costs. Compared to participants classified as no cases by the HADS (2.6 days), severe case participants showed 27.3-times as many specific days of incapacity to work in the first year (72 days) and 10.3-times as many days in the second year (44 days), and resulted in 11.4-times more medical costs in the first year (2272 EUR) and 6.2-times more in the second year (1319 EUR). The relationship of mental distress to non-specific days of incapacity to work and non-specific medical costs was also significant, but mainly driven from specific absent days and specific medical costs. Our results also indicate that the prevalence of presenteeism is considerably high: 42% of individuals continued to go to work despite severe mental distress.
conclusionsOur results show that self-reported mental distress, assessed by the HADS, is highly related to the days of incapacity to work and medical costs in the two-year period. Reducing mental distress by improving preventive structures for at-risk populations and increasing access to evidence-based treatments for individuals with mental disorders might, therefore, pay for itself and could help to reduce public costs.
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