Work-related mental health problems in Switzerland

Objective The study identifies work-related risk factors that are relevant to mental health and quantifies their influence. This allows estimation of risk levels for individual workplaces and of the proportion of occupational causation in the emergence of mental health problems. Methods Swiss Health Survey data, containing information on several potential risk factors and health indicators that cover aspects of mental health, were used in multiple multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results Stress was the predominant risk factor, followed by exposure to violence, unergonomic work processes, and work that conflicted with family life. Hotel and restaurant industries and health and social services had high exposure to risk factors. One of 20 workplaces was deemed high-risk based on an odds ratio >4. Conclusions Up to one-third of mental health problems within the active workforce may have highly predominant occupational causation.