RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Organisational downsizing and increased use of psychotropic drugs among employees who remain in employment
JF Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JO J Epidemiol Community Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 154
OP 158
DO 10.1136/jech.2006.050955
VO 61
IS 2
A1 Kivimäki, Mika
A1 Honkonen, Teija
A1 Wahlbeck, Kristian
A1 Elovainio, Marko
A1 Pentti, Jaana
A1 Klaukka, Timo
A1 Virtanen, Marianna
A1 Vahtera, Jussi
YR 2007
UL http://jech.bmj.com/content/61/2/154.abstract
AB Objective: Organisational downsizing is common in modern work life, but its effect on employees’ mental health is not known. The authors examined whether working in downsizing organisations predicts use of psychotropic drugs among employees who remain in employment. Design, setting and participants: Prospective cohort study of municipal employees in Finland. 4783 employees worked in downsized units but kept their jobs after downsizing in 1993, 4271 employees lost their jobs during the downsizing, and 17 599 employees did not experience downsizing. The outcome was psychotropic drug prescriptions (antidepressants, anxiolytics and hypnotics) during 1994–2000 extracted from nationwide registers and linked to the data by means of each participant’s personal identification number. Main results: After adjustment for predownsizing characteristics, employees who were exposed to downsizing but kept their jobs were at a higher risk of being prescribed psychotropic drugs (rate ratio 1.49, 95% CI 1.10 to 2.02 in men and 1.12, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.27 in women) than those not exposed to downsizing. The association of downsizing was strongest with hypnotics among the men and with anxiolytics among the women. An increased rate of psychotropic prescriptions after downsizing was also seen in male workers who lost their job (rate ratio 1.64, 95% CI 1.19 to 2.25). Conclusions: The association between organisational downsizing and increased use of psychotropic drugs suggests that this managerial strategy may pose mental health risks among employees.