Risk of mental illness after the diagnosis of occupational injury or disease: a retrospective cohort study

• Published in: International archives of occupational and environmental health Vol. 94; no. 1; pp. 55 - 68
• Main Authors: Lin, Ming-Hung, Yang, Ya-Lun, Sung, Fung-Chung, Liu, Chiu-Shong, Lung, Chi-Hsuan, Wang, Jong-Yi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adults; Anxiety disorders; Cohort analysis; Consortia; Diagnosis; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Health; Geographical locations; Health care facilities; Health services; Illnesses; Injury prevention; Insurance; Labor unions; Mental disorders; Occupational health; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Occupational safety; Original Article; Patients; Psychosis; Rehabilitation; Risk; Social security; Taiwan; Occupational disease; Mental illness; Occupational injury; Risk factor
• ISSN: 0340-0131; 1432-1246
• DOI: 10.1007/s00420-020-01558-x

Objectives As studies on mental disorders in victims of occupational injury or disease are limited, this study aims to evaluate the risk of, and factors associated with, the development of mental illness in patients with occupational injury or disease using insurance claims data from Taiwan. Methods This retrospective cohort study analyzed insurance records in Taiwan to identify 18,285 adults who experienced occupational injury or disease in 2002–2013 and 18,285 adults without occupational injury or disease who were matched by propensity score. The risks of mental disorders during a follow-up period of up to 2 years were estimated and compared between the two cohorts. Results After controlling for other variables, the odds of mental illness in patients with occupational injury or disease was significantly higher compared to patients without occupational injury or disease. Additional factors associated with higher odds of mental disorders included female gender, age ≥ 30 years (vs. 20–29 years), Charlson comorbidity index ≥ 1, occupation category of labor union member, soldier, insured by social security, religious group member (vs. private or government employee), lower premium-based monthly salary (≤ 576 US$), treatment at a district hospital or clinic (vs. medical center), treatment at a publically-owned or consortium-owned hospital (vs. private hospital), and central or southeast geographic location (vs. Taipei). The main types of mental illness were anxiety disorder (2.79%) and other psychoses (3.29%). Conclusion The risk of mental illness slightly increased during the 2-year period after the diagnosis of occupational injury or disease.