Loss of Productivity due to Depression among Korean Employees

Loss of Productivity due to Depression among Korean Employees: Young-Mi LEE. Department of Nursing, Hanbuk University, Korea-Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the difference in productivity between those who are depressed and those who are not. Methods: A cross-sectional study of depressive and non-depressive employees at a workplace was performed. Data was collected between April and June 2008 through self-reported questionnaires including the Stanford Presenteeism Scale. One thousand employees participated in this study. Inappropriate responses including missing data or non-relevant responses were excluded. Finally, data of 612 subjects was analyzed using the SPSS program. Results: The productivity of employees with depression was lower than that of employees without depression. The difference in productivity loss due to impaired presenteeism was significantly different between the two groups, but the productivity loss due to absenteeism was not. Conclusions: From the results of this study, we can deduce that depression among employees leads to productivity loss. Therefore, we must consider the management of depression in the workplace and improve the activities of occupational nurses and doctors during the mental health screening of employees. (J Occup Health 2010; 52: 389-394)