Virtanen, M;
Jokela, M;
Madsen, IE;
Magnusson Hanson, LL;
Lallukka, T;
Nyberg, ST;
Alfredsson, L;
... Kivimäki, M; + view all
(2018)
Long working hours and depressive symptoms: systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data.
Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health
, 44
(3)
pp. 239-250.
10.5271/sjweh.3712.
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Abstract
Objectives This systematic review and meta-analysis combined published study-level data and unpublished individual-participant data with the aim of quantifying the relation between long working hours and the onset of depressive symptoms. Methods We searched PubMed and Embase for published prospective cohort studies and included available cohorts with unpublished individual-participant data. We used a random-effects meta-analysis to calculate summary estimates across studies. Results We identified ten published cohort studies and included unpublished individual-participant data from 18 studies. In the majority of cohorts, long working hours was defined as working ≥55 hours per week. In multivariable-adjusted meta-analyses of 189 729 participants from 35 countries [96 275 men, 93 454 women, follow-up ranging from 1-5 years, 21 747 new-onset cases), there was an overall association of 1.14 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.25] between long working hours and the onset of depressive symptoms, with significant evidence of heterogeneity (I2=45.1%, P=0.004). A moderate association between working hours and depressive symptoms was found in Asian countries (1.50, 95% CI 1.13-2.01), a weaker association in Europe (1.11, 95% CI 1.00-1.22), and no association in North America (0.97, 95% CI 0.70-1.34) or Australia (0.95, 95% CI 0.70-1.29). Differences by other characteristics were small. Conclusions This observational evidence suggests a moderate association between long working hours and onset of depressive symptoms in Asia and a small association in Europe.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Long working hours and depressive symptoms: systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data |
| Location: | Finland |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.5271/sjweh.3712 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3712 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Depression; depressive symptom; mental health; meta-analysis; overtime; participant data; psychological distress; systematic review; working hour; working life; working time |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10043538 |
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