Long working hours and depressive symptoms: systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data

• Main Authors: Marianna Virtanen (Author), Markus Jokela (Author), Ida EH Madsen (Author), Linda L Magnusson Hanson (Author), Tea Lallukka (Author), Solja T Nyberg (Author), Lars Alfredsson (Author), G David Batty (Author), Jakob Bue Bjorner (Author), Marianne Borritz (Author), Hermann Burr (Author), Nico Dragano (Author), Raimund Erbel (Author), Jane E Ferrie (Author), Katriina Heikkilä (Author), Anders Knutsson (Author), Markku Koskenvuo (Author), Eero Lahelma (Author), Martin Lindhardt Nielsen (Author), Tuula Oksanen (Author), Jan H Pejtersen (Author), Jaana Pentti (Author), Ossi Rahkonen (Author), Reiner Rugulies (Author), Paula Salo (Author), Jürgen Schupp (Author), Martin J Shipley (Author), Johannes Siegrist (Author), Archana Singh-Manoux (Author), Sakari B Suominen (Author), Töres Theorell (Author), Jussi Vahtera (Author), Gert G Wagner (Author), Jian Li Wang (Author), Vasoontara Yiengprugsawan (Author), Hugo Westerlund (Author), Mika Kivimäki (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH), 2018-05-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review and meta-analysis combined published study-level data and unpublished individual-participant data with the aim of quantifying the relation between long working hours and the onset of depressive symptoms. METHODS: We searched PubMed and Embase for published prospective cohort studies and included available cohorts with unpublished individual-participant data.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 RESULTS: We identified ten published cohort studies and included unpublished individual-participant data from 18 studies.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 (I^2=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.

Item Description

0355-3140
1795-990X
10.5271/sjweh.3712