ReviewApplied health economics and health policy2023
The Role of Mental Health on Workplace Productivity: A Critical Review of the Literature.
Review in Applied health economics and health policy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 101 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.
The trial behind it
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
101 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Occupational health interventions' impact on absenteeism and economic returns: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2026Pooled it
- Cardiovascular Health of Single Mothers: A Systematic Review.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions Based on Biofeedback Systems to Improve Workers' Psychological Well-Being, Mental Health, and Safety: Systematic Literature Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic review: occupational sedentary behaviour and common mental health symptoms.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Cross-national validation of the MHQoL: psychometric evaluation and open-source tools for assessing mental health quality of life.BMJ open · 2026Trial
- Productivity benefits of treatment of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in Kenya.BMJ global health · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Article
- Impact of mobile health interventions for mental health literacy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Employment trends in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in Spain: a nationwide register-based study (2018-2023).European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Workplace Mental Health and Social Media Addictive Behaviours: The Application of Mattering Theory.The Canadian journal of nursing research = Revue canadienne de recherche en sciences infirmieres · 2026Article
- The association between commute time and both presenteeism and absenteeism: a cross-sectional analysis of the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey.Annals of occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Determinants of implementation success for a digital single-session intervention for workplace mental health: Mixed methods evaluation in a cluster trial.Internet interventions · 2026Article
- Breaking Barriers in Mental Health: Addressing Mental Health Disparities in Marginalized Communities.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Immediate and Sustained Improvements in Mood and Stress Associated With Yuna, an AI-Powered Digital Mental Health Intervention: Real-World Retrospective Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Toward Others' Mental Disorders to Improve Mental Health First Aid: Cross-Sectional Study in a French Workplace.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Article
- Lifestyle Factors Associated with Perceived Stress Among Adolescents: The Indirect Role of Mediterranean Diet Adherence in the Screen Time-Stress Association.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Racial and gender disparities in reasons for seeking mental healthcare in Canada.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Conflict, mental health, and labor productivity: evidence from hired farm workers in Myanmar.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- Internalized Stigma and Help-Seeking Across Problems and Targets.The journal of behavioral health services & research · 2026Article
41 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
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMental health disorders in the workplace have increasingly been recognised as a problem in most countries given their high economic burden. However, few reviews have examined the relationship between mental health and worker productivity.
objectiveTo review the relationship between mental health and lost productivity and undertake a critical review of the published literature.
methodsA critical review was undertaken to identify relevant studies published in MEDLINE and EconLit from 1 January 2008 to 31 May 2020, and to examine the type of data and methods employed, study findings and limitations, and existing gaps in the literature. Studies were critically appraised, namely whether they recognised and/or addressed endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity, and a narrative synthesis of the existing evidence was undertaken.
resultsThirty-eight (38) relevant studies were found. There was clear evidence that poor mental health (mostly measured as depression and/or anxiety) was associated with lost productivity (i.e., absenteeism and presenteeism). However, only the most common mental disorders were typically examined. Studies employed questionnaires/surveys and administrative data and regression analysis. Few studies used longitudinal data, controlled for unobserved heterogeneity or addressed endogeneity; therefore, few studies were considered high quality.
conclusionDespite consistent findings, more high-quality, longitudinal and causal inference studies are needed to provide clear policy recommendations. Moreover, future research should seek to understand how working conditions and work arrangements as well as workplace policies impact presenteeism.
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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.