Table 3.

Recurrence sickness absence outcomes

Author(s)	Country	Mental disorders	Outcome measure	Number of episodes or employees	Reported outcomes of sickness absences
Dewa et al12	CA (Ontario)	Mental and behavioural disorders (ICD-10 F00-F99, Z502, Z503, Z561-Z566, Z630-Z639, Z729, Z733, Z738, Z864, Z915): schizophrenia, mood disorders, stress-related disorders and mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use	Disability free days=number of between end of first episode and beginning of subsequent episode	Number of employees with ≥1 sickness absence episode: Due to mental disorders=422 Due to physical disorders= 3171	Median disability free days (SE): Previous episode for mental disorders=673 (79.8) Previous episode for physical disorders=1053 (48.6)
Koopmans et al9	NL	Common mental disorders (CMD) from medical certification: stress-related (distress and adjustment disorders) (ICD-10 R45, F43) and psychiatric (mild to moderate depressive and anxiety disorders) (ICD-10 F32.0, F32.1, F40.0, F40.1, F40.2, F41.0, F41.1, F41.2, F41.3)	Recurrence density=number of employees with recurrent episodes by the worker-years in the subpopulation of men and women with a previous episode of sickness absence due to a CMD New episodes=>28 days apart Worker-years=years of coverage from index episode to end of employment period	Number of employees with ≥1 sickness absence due to CMD=8951 Total number of sickness absence due to CMD=10 921	From 2001 to 2007, episodes per worker with ≥ 1 sickness absence related to CMD: 1 episode = 82% 2 episodes= 14% 3 episodes= 3% ≥ 4 episodes = 1% From 2001 to 2007, CMD recurrence densities/1000 worker-years (95% CI): Men: Stress=74.4 (72.9 to 76.0) Psychiatric=83.8 (71.9 to 95.7) Total CMD=75.6 (70.7 to 80.4) Women: Stress=78.4 (75.9 to 80.9) Psychiatric=78.9 (64.1 to 93.7) Total CMD=78.5 (72.4 to 84.6) From 2001 to 2007, CMD sickness absence median time to onset recurrence (in months) (95% CI): Men: Stress=11 (11 to 13) Psychiatric=12 (8 to 15) Total CMD=11 (10 to 13) Women: Stress=11 (9 to 12) Psychiatric=10 (8 to 12) Total CMD=10 (9 to 12)
Koopmans et al8	NL	Common mental disorders (CMD) from medical certification: stress-related (distress and adjustment disorders) (ICD-10 R45, F43) and psychiatric (mild to moderate depressive and anxiety disorders) (ICD-10 F32, F40, F41)	Recurrence density=number of employees with recurrent episodes by the worker-years in the subpopulation of men and women with a previous episode of sickness absence due to a CMD Worker-years=years of coverage from index episode to end of employment period	Number of employees with ≥1 sickness absence due to CMD=9904 Total number of sickness absences due to CMD=12 404	From 2001 to 2007, CMD sickness absence median time to onset recurrence (in months) (95% CI): Total=10 (10 to 11) Distress symptoms=11 (10 to 12) Adjustment disorder=11 (9 to 12) Depressive symptoms=10 (7 to 12) Anxiety symptoms=10 (7 to 14) Other CMD disorders=8 (6 to 9)
Reis et al11	BR	Mental and behavioural disorders (ICD-10 F00-F99)	Duration of episode=Number of calendar days absent from work Recurrence density=number of recurrent sickness absences divided by total worker-time at risk for the subsequent sickness absences	Number of sickness absence episodes: Due to any disorder=5138 Due to mental and behavioural disorders=324	Recurrence density/100 worker-months: Due to any disorder =17.37 Due to mental and behavioural disorders=6.72
Roelen et al10	NL	Mental and behavioural disorders from medical certification (ICD-10 F00-F99)	Recurrence density=number of employees with recurrent episodes by the worker-years in the subpopulation of men and women with a previous episode of sickness absence	Number of employees with ≥1 sickness absence=36 342 Number of employees with ≥1 sickness absence due to mental and behavioural disorders=7197 Number of employees with >1 sickness absence due to mental and behavioural disorders=1400 Worker-years=363 461	From 2001 to 2007, Recurrence density/1000 worker-years (95% CI): Mental and behavioural disorders=80.4 (74.9 to 86.0) Any disorder=81.6 (79.1 to 84.0) Median days to recurrence (in days) (95% CI): Mental and behavioural disorders=328 (284 to 372) Any disorder=384 (367 to 401)