| Title: | Comparing Anxiety and Depression in Information Technology Workers with Others in Employment: A UK Biobank Cohort Study |
| Journal: | Annals of Work Exposures and Health |
| Published: | 27 Aug 2022 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36029464/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/annweh/wxac061 |
| URL: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9664232 |
Publication 7059
WARNING: the interactive features of this website use CSS3, which your browser does not support. To use the full features of this website, please update your browser.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Despite reported psychological hazards of information technology (IT) work, studies of diagnosed mental health conditions in IT workers are lacking. We investigated self-reported mental health outcomes and incident anxiety/depression in IT workers compared to others in employment in a large population-based cohort. METHODS: We evaluated self-reported mental health outcomes in the UK Biobank cohort and incident diagnosed anxiety/depression through health record linkage. We used logistic regression and Cox models to compare the risks of prevalent and incident anxiety/depression among IT workers with all other employed participants. Furthermore, we compared outcomes within IT worker subgroups, and between these subgroups and other similar occupations within their major Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) group. RESULTS: Of 112 399 participants analyzed, 4093 (3.6%) were IT workers. At baseline, IT workers had a reduced odds (OR = 0.66, 95%CI: 0.52-0.85) of anxiety/depression symptoms and were less likely (OR = 0.87, 95%CI: 0.83-0.91) to have ever attended their GP for anxiety/depression, compared to all other employed participants, after adjustment for confounders. The IT technician subgroup were more likely (OR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.07-1.40) to have previously seen their GP or a psychiatrist (OR = 1.31, 95%CI: 1.06-1.62) for anxiety/depression than their SOC counterparts. IT workers had lower incident anxiety/depression (HR = 0.84, 95%CI 0.77-0.93) compared to all other employed participants, after adjustment for confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings from this, the first longitudinal study of IT worker mental health, set the benchmark in our understanding of the mental health of this growing workforce and identification of high-risk groups. This will have important implications for targeting mental health workplace interventions.6 Authors
- Drushca Lalloo
- Jim Lewsey
- Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi
- Ewan B Macdonald
- Desmond Campbell
- Evangelia Demou
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health