Antidepressant treatment among social workers, human service professionals, and non-human service professionals: A multi-cohort study in Finland, Sweden and Denmark

O. Rantonen; K. Alexanderson; Alice Jessie  Clark Lyth; V. Aalto; A. Sónden; Henrik Brønnum-Hansen; Charlotte Ørsted Hougaard; Naja Hulvej Rod; E. Mittendorfer-Rutz; M. Kivimäki; T. Oksanen; P. Salo

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.037

Antidepressant treatment among social workers, human service professionals, and non-human service professionals: A multi-cohort study in Finland, Sweden and Denmark

O. Rantonen, K. Alexanderson, Alice Jessie Clark Lyth, V. Aalto, A. Sónden, Henrik Brønnum-Hansen, Charlotte Ørsted Hougaard, Naja Hulvej Rod, E. Mittendorfer-Rutz, M. Kivimäki, T. Oksanen, P. Salo

Section of Social Medicine

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Social workers have an elevated risk for mental disorders, but little is known about their antidepressant treatment.

AIMS: To examine any and long-term antidepressant treatment among social workers in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

METHODS: We linked records from drug prescription registers to three prospective cohorts: the Finnish Public Sector study, years 2006-2011, and nation-wide cohorts in Sweden and Denmark, years 2006-2014, including a total of 1.5 million employees in (1) social work, (2) other social and health care professions, (3) education and (4) office work. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios for any and long-term (>6 months) antidepressant treatment among social workers compared to the three reference occupational groups and carried out meta-analyses.

RESULTS: During follow-up, 25% of social workers had any prescriptions for antidepressants (19-24% reference occupations) and 20% for long-term treatment (14-19% reference occupations). The pooled effects for any and long-term treatment showed that probabilities were 10% higher in social workers compared to other health and social care professionals and 30% higher compared to education and non-human service professionals. Probabilities for any treatment in the three countries were relatively similar, but for long-term treatment social workers in Finland had a greater risk compared with other human service professions.

LIMITATIONS: There were differences between the cohorts in the availability of data. Specific diagnoses for the antidepressant treatment were not known neither adherence to treatment.

CONCLUSION: Social workers have a higher risk for any and long-term antidepressant treatment than other human and non-human service professionals.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Affective Disorders
Volume	250
Pages (from-to)	153-162
Number of pages	10
ISSN	0165-0327
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.037
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2019

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.037

Cite this

Rantonen, O., Alexanderson, K., Clark Lyth, A. J., Aalto, V., Sónden, A., Brønnum-Hansen, H., Hougaard, C. Ø., Rod, N. H., Mittendorfer-Rutz, E., Kivimäki, M., Oksanen, T., & Salo, P. (2019). Antidepressant treatment among social workers, human service professionals, and non-human service professionals: A multi-cohort study in Finland, Sweden and Denmark. Journal of Affective Disorders, 250, 153-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.037

Antidepressant treatment among social workers, human service professionals, and non-human service professionals: A multi-cohort study in Finland, Sweden and Denmark. / Rantonen, O.; Alexanderson, K.; Clark Lyth, Alice Jessie et al.
In: Journal of Affective Disorders, Vol. 250, 01.05.2019, p. 153-162.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Rantonen, O, Alexanderson, K, Clark Lyth, AJ, Aalto, V, Sónden, A, Brønnum-Hansen, H , Hougaard, CØ , Rod, NH, Mittendorfer-Rutz, E, Kivimäki, M, Oksanen, T & Salo, P 2019, 'Antidepressant treatment among social workers, human service professionals, and non-human service professionals: A multi-cohort study in Finland, Sweden and Denmark', Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 250, pp. 153-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.037

@article{fad5d024b2f44753abbb349dcd49bf28,

title = "Antidepressant treatment among social workers, human service professionals, and non-human service professionals: A multi-cohort study in Finland, Sweden and Denmark",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Social workers have an elevated risk for mental disorders, but little is known about their antidepressant treatment.AIMS: To examine any and long-term antidepressant treatment among social workers in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.METHODS: We linked records from drug prescription registers to three prospective cohorts: the Finnish Public Sector study, years 2006-2011, and nation-wide cohorts in Sweden and Denmark, years 2006-2014, including a total of 1.5 million employees in (1) social work, (2) other social and health care professions, (3) education and (4) office work. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios for any and long-term (>6 months) antidepressant treatment among social workers compared to the three reference occupational groups and carried out meta-analyses.RESULTS: During follow-up, 25% of social workers had any prescriptions for antidepressants (19-24% reference occupations) and 20% for long-term treatment (14-19% reference occupations). The pooled effects for any and long-term treatment showed that probabilities were 10% higher in social workers compared to other health and social care professionals and 30% higher compared to education and non-human service professionals. Probabilities for any treatment in the three countries were relatively similar, but for long-term treatment social workers in Finland had a greater risk compared with other human service professions.LIMITATIONS: There were differences between the cohorts in the availability of data. Specific diagnoses for the antidepressant treatment were not known neither adherence to treatment.CONCLUSION: Social workers have a higher risk for any and long-term antidepressant treatment than other human and non-human service professionals.",

author = "O. Rantonen and K. Alexanderson and {Clark Lyth}, {Alice Jessie} and V. Aalto and A. S{\'o}nden and Henrik Br{\o}nnum-Hansen and Hougaard, {Charlotte {\O}rsted} and Rod, {Naja Hulvej} and E. Mittendorfer-Rutz and M. Kivim{\"a}ki and T. Oksanen and P. Salo",

note = "Copyright {\textcopyright} 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.",

year = "2019",

month = may,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.037",

language = "English",

volume = "250",

pages = "153--162",

journal = "Journal of Affective Disorders",

issn = "0165-0327",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Antidepressant treatment among social workers, human service professionals, and non-human service professionals

T2 - A multi-cohort study in Finland, Sweden and Denmark

AU - Rantonen, O.

AU - Alexanderson, K.

AU - Clark Lyth, Alice Jessie

AU - Aalto, V.

AU - Sónden, A.

AU - Brønnum-Hansen, Henrik

AU - Hougaard, Charlotte Ørsted

AU - Rod, Naja Hulvej

AU - Mittendorfer-Rutz, E.

AU - Kivimäki, M.

AU - Oksanen, T.

AU - Salo, P.

PY - 2019/5/1

Y1 - 2019/5/1

N2 - BACKGROUND: Social workers have an elevated risk for mental disorders, but little is known about their antidepressant treatment.AIMS: To examine any and long-term antidepressant treatment among social workers in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.METHODS: We linked records from drug prescription registers to three prospective cohorts: the Finnish Public Sector study, years 2006-2011, and nation-wide cohorts in Sweden and Denmark, years 2006-2014, including a total of 1.5 million employees in (1) social work, (2) other social and health care professions, (3) education and (4) office work. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios for any and long-term (>6 months) antidepressant treatment among social workers compared to the three reference occupational groups and carried out meta-analyses.RESULTS: During follow-up, 25% of social workers had any prescriptions for antidepressants (19-24% reference occupations) and 20% for long-term treatment (14-19% reference occupations). The pooled effects for any and long-term treatment showed that probabilities were 10% higher in social workers compared to other health and social care professionals and 30% higher compared to education and non-human service professionals. Probabilities for any treatment in the three countries were relatively similar, but for long-term treatment social workers in Finland had a greater risk compared with other human service professions.LIMITATIONS: There were differences between the cohorts in the availability of data. Specific diagnoses for the antidepressant treatment were not known neither adherence to treatment.CONCLUSION: Social workers have a higher risk for any and long-term antidepressant treatment than other human and non-human service professionals.

AB - BACKGROUND: Social workers have an elevated risk for mental disorders, but little is known about their antidepressant treatment.AIMS: To examine any and long-term antidepressant treatment among social workers in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.METHODS: We linked records from drug prescription registers to three prospective cohorts: the Finnish Public Sector study, years 2006-2011, and nation-wide cohorts in Sweden and Denmark, years 2006-2014, including a total of 1.5 million employees in (1) social work, (2) other social and health care professions, (3) education and (4) office work. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios for any and long-term (>6 months) antidepressant treatment among social workers compared to the three reference occupational groups and carried out meta-analyses.RESULTS: During follow-up, 25% of social workers had any prescriptions for antidepressants (19-24% reference occupations) and 20% for long-term treatment (14-19% reference occupations). The pooled effects for any and long-term treatment showed that probabilities were 10% higher in social workers compared to other health and social care professionals and 30% higher compared to education and non-human service professionals. Probabilities for any treatment in the three countries were relatively similar, but for long-term treatment social workers in Finland had a greater risk compared with other human service professions.LIMITATIONS: There were differences between the cohorts in the availability of data. Specific diagnoses for the antidepressant treatment were not known neither adherence to treatment.CONCLUSION: Social workers have a higher risk for any and long-term antidepressant treatment than other human and non-human service professionals.

U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.037

DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.037

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30856492

SN - 0165-0327

VL - 250

SP - 153

EP - 162

JO - Journal of Affective Disorders

JF - Journal of Affective Disorders

ER -

Antidepressant treatment among social workers, human service professionals, and non-human service professionals: A multi-cohort study in Finland, Sweden and Denmark

Abstract

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this