Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/200145 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Citation: 
[Journal:] Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health [ISSN:] 0355-3140 [Issue:] 3 [Publisher:] Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH) [Place:] Työterveyslaitos [Year:] 2018 [Pages:] 239-250
Publisher: 
Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH), Työterveyslaitos
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OBJECTIVES: This systematic review and meta-analysis combined published study-level data and unpublished individual-participant data with the aim of quantifying the relation between long working hours and the onset of depressive symptoms. METHODS: We searched PubMed and Embase for published prospective cohort studies and included available cohorts with unpublished individual-participant data.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to calculate summary estimates across studies.RESULTS: We identified ten published cohort studies and included unpublished individual-participant data from 18 studies.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 (I<sup>2</sup>=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.</p>
Subjects: 
depression
depressive symptom
mental health
meta-analysis
overtime
participant data
psychological distress
systematic review
working hour
working life
working time
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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