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The frequency of work-related psychological suffering has increased sharply in France and affects women twice as much as men, according to a study carried out before the Covid pandemic and published Tuesday by Public Health France.
Suffering at work which has increased since 2016
“In 2019, the prevalence of work-related psychological suffering was more than twice that of 2007, with a notable increase from 2016, regardless of gender.“, summarize the authors in the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin.
Women were “two to three times more” affected than men each year, according to this study using data from repeated cross-sectional surveys based on volunteer occupational physicians.
Among women, the prevalence of work-related psychological suffering – mental disorders caused, or aggravated, by work and its conditions – increased from 2007 (2.4%) to 2018 (6.2%), before falling slightly in 2019 (5.9%).
Among men, it increased until 2015, decreased slightly in 2016, rising to 2.6% the following two years, the researchers detail.
Deterioration of working conditions and/or increased verbalization of employees
“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 greater awareness among doctors of the diagnosis and greater reporting by employees.“, advances the study.
Mixed anxiety and depressive disorders were the psychological conditions most frequently reported by occupational physicians, followed by depressive disorders.
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.
An important public health issue
But if “the number of recognitions as occupational illnesses for psychological disorders is increasing regularly, it remains low in the absence of a dedicated occupational illness table“, note the researchers.
But psychological suffering linked to work”constitutes an important public health issue“by his”serious consequences on the quality of life of affected workers” but also by its cost for society, they point out.
Of the “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“, estimate the authors.
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