Not only has the frequency of work-related psychological suffering increased sharply in France, but it affects women twice as much as men, according to a study by Public Health France carried out before the Covid pandemic. Published on March 5, it uses data from repeated cross-sectional surveys based on volunteer occupational physicians.
Overall “in 2019, the prevalence of work-related psychological suffering – that is to say mental disorders caused, or aggravated, by work and its conditions of execution – was more than twice as high as that of 2007. The increase is particularly notable from 2016”, summarize the authors in the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin.
According to the authors, “these increases may be due to multiple deteriorations in working conditions, but they could also be partly explained by better information about mental health problems, leading to better awareness among doctors of the diagnosis and greater verbalization employees”, they say. Mixed anxiety and depressive disorders are the psychological conditions most frequently reported by occupational physicians, followed by depressive disorders.
Women two to three times more affected
A very large disparity between the sexes is also revealed by these data. Women are thus “two to three times more” affected than men each year, the study reveals. Among them, the prevalence of work-related psychological suffering increased from 2007 (2.4%) to 2018 (6.2%), before decreasing slightly in 2019 (5.9%). Among men, it increased until 2015, then decreased slightly in 2016, rising to 2.6% the following two years, the researchers detail.
Among women, the risk of work-related psychological suffering appeared to be greater in the transport and warehousing, construction and industrial sectors. Among men, in agriculture, certain service activities, accommodation and catering are more concerned.
No dedicated occupational disease table
But if “the number of recognitions as occupational illnesses of psychological disorders increases regularly, it remains low in the absence of a dedicated occupational illness table”, note the researchers. However, psychological suffering linked to work “constitutes an important public health issue” because of its “serious consequences on the quality of life of the workers affected” but also because of its cost for society, they point out.
“Policies aimed at reducing inequalities between the sexes in the sectors most at risk would contribute to a more equitable distribution of professional exposures, and would possibly have a positive impact on the mental health of female employees,” the authors believe.