Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of employees on long-term sick leave

Abstract

Introduction Mental health in the workplace is a rapidly developing field of research, which involves the well-being of the individual on a psychological and social level. However, this balance can be suddenly disrupted and can have such a repercussion that the individual finds himself unable to do his job. In this case, he can benefit from a work stoppage called long term sick leave, governed for the public sector, by the decree number 59-239 of August 24, 1959. Objectives To study the socio-demographic and clinical profile of public sector employees who have been on long-term sick leave and examined as part of the assessment of their ability to work. Methods It is a retrospective study that focused on all public sector employees on long-term sick leave, examined as part of the evaluation of their ability to work in the psychiatric service CHU MAHDIA during the period from January 2013 to April 2014. Results We collected 73 patients. The mean age at the time of the examination was 51.1 years. There was a clear female predominance 67% and the sex ratio was 0.48. The vast majority were married (71%), of average socioeconomic status (52%) and high school level (43%). Most of the patients (67%) were from the Ministry of Public Health, followed by the Ministry of Education with 26% of the study population. The average length of service was 20.4 years with extremes between 3 and 36 years. The average length of leave was 13 months. The most frequent diagnosis of the prescribing physician was adaptation disorder (41%), major depressive disorder (27%). Somatic comorbidity was found in 38% of cases, dominated by hypertension, diabetes and cervicarthritis in 50%, 28% and 18% respectively. At the end of the leave, 82% of the patients were able to return to work. For the other patients, a professional reclassification was necessary. Conclusions Long-term sick leave has a heavy economic burden for society and serious socio-economic and psychological repercussions on the patient. Hence the interest in identifying vulnerable subjects and jobs at risk in order to prevent the occurrence of psychopathological disorders. Disclosure of Interest None Declared