Psychotherapeutic Consultation Services in the Workplace: A Longitudinal Analysis of Treatments and Sick Leave Using Health Insurance Data

Melanie Gantner; Marc Nicolas Jarzcok; Jürgen Schneider; Stefan Brandner; Harald Gündel; Jörn von Wietersheim

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.838823

Psychotherapeutic Consultation Services in the Workplace: A Longitudinal Analysis of Treatments and Sick Leave Using Health Insurance Data

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Mar 24:13:838823. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.838823. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Melanie Gantner¹, Marc Nicolas Jarzcok¹, Jürgen Schneider², Stefan Brandner², Harald Gündel¹, Jörn von Wietersheim¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Centre, Ulm, Germany.
² Wieland BKK, Ulm, Germany.

Abstract

Background: Psychotherapeutic consultation services in the workplace (PSIW) have been developed to provide collaborative mental health care for employees. The aim of this study was to analyze participant characteristics, the role of PSIW in treatment courses, and the development of sick leave before and after PSIW start.

Methods: Routine data from PSIW and health insurance of 155 participants were analyzed descriptively and by means of a multilevel negative binomial regression.

Results: Eighty-four percent of users were male, and 72% were diagnosed with a mental disorder. The number of PSIW consultations varied from 1 to 13 (mean = 4). For 34% of participants, PSIW sessions were sufficient, 33% received a recommendation for outpatient psychotherapy, and 20% for inpatient mental health treatment. While recommendations for inpatient treatment displayed a high adherence rate (74%), recommendations for outpatient treatment were followed by 37%. Compared with the period of a half-year before PSIW, sick-leave days were reduced from the period of the second half-year after PSIW start and in the subsequent observed half-year periods. Trajectories of sick leave by subgroups showed differences.

Conclusions: PSIW is a flexible care offer, and results indicate a possible effect of PSIW on sick leave. In future studies, control group designs and inclusion of further variables are needed.

Keywords: collaborative care in the workplace; health services research; occupational health service; sick leave; workplace intervention; workplace mental health.