Workplace bullying and subsequent psychotropic medication: a cohort study with register linkages.

Abstract:

OBJECTIVES:We aimed to examine longitudinally whether workplace bullying was associated with subsequent psychotropic medication among women and men. DESIGN:A cohort study. SETTING:Helsinki, Finland. PARTICIPANTS:Employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland (n=6606, 80% women), 40-60 years at baseline in 2000-2002, and a register-based follow-up on medication. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES:Workplace bullying comprised questions about current and earlier bullying as well as observing bullying. The Finnish Social Insurance Institution's register data on purchases of prescribed reimbursed psychotropic medication were linked with the survey data. All psychotropic medication 3 years prior to and 5 years after the baseline survey was included. Covariates included age, prior psychotropic medication, childhood bullying, occupational class, and body mass index. Cox proportional hazard models (HR, 95% CI) were fitted and days until the first purchase of prescribed psychotropic medication after baseline were used as the time axis. RESULTS:Workplace bullying was associated with subsequent psychotropic medication after adjusting for age and prior medication among both women (HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.93) and men (HR 2.15, 95% CI 1.36 to 3.41). Also observing bullying was associated with subsequent psychotropic medication among women (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.25 to 1.88) and men (HR 1.92, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.99). The associations only modestly attenuated after full adjustment. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings highlight the significance of workplace bullying to subsequent psychotropic medication reflecting medically confirmed mental problems. Tackling workplace bullying likely helps prevent mental problems among employees.

journal_name

BMJ Open

journal_title

BMJ open

authors

Lallukka T,Haukka J,Partonen T,Rahkonen O,Lahelma E

doi

10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001660

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2012-12-12 00:00:00

issue

6

issn

2044-6055

pii

bmjopen-2012-001660

journal_volume

2

pub_type

杂志文章

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