Association between depression and anxiety symptoms, mental disorders and the prevalence and duration of sick leave in the economically active population in primary care in Latvia

One of the major concerns when it comes to depression and anxiety is the effect of ability to work – these disorders are associated with increased risks of disability as well as sick leave (both short and long-term). So far these factors have not yet been studied in primary care population Latvia. The aim of this study was to examine the association of depression and anxiety with short term sick leave during the prior 3 months in a primary care population of Latvia. This cross-sectional study was carried out within the National Research Program BIOMEDICINE to assess the prevalence of mental disorders at 24 primary care facilities. During one week period in 2015 all consecutive adult patients during a primary care visit were invited to complete an assessment survey. Diagnoses of disorders were confirmed using medical records. A follow up assessment was conducted over the telephone within 2 weeks after the visit. The statistical significance of differences of prevalence of dependent variable among strata of independent variables was detected using Chi square test. The data shows that patients with depressive symptoms more often had longer sick leave with 13.7% having 15+ days of sick leave compared to 6.8% with no depressive symptoms (p=0.002). Patients with anxiety symptoms also had longer duration of sick leave (13.3% 15+days) than without (7.2%) (p=0.04). Mental disorders associated with longer duration of sick leave were current depressive disorder (9.6% with vs 7.4% without with 15+ days of sick leave) (p=0.047) and lifetime recurrent depressive disorder (10.1% with vs 7.5% without) (p=0.04), lifetime depression (9.6 with vs 7.4% without) (p=0.03) and current post-traumatic stress disorder (30.8% with vs 7.8% without) (p=0.006). Symptoms of depression and anxiety have an impact on the length of sick leave.