Health-related quality of life and productivity losses in patients with depression and anxiety disorders.

Objectives: To assess the explanatory power of disease severity and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) on absenteeism and presenteeism in a working population suffering from depression and/or anxiety disorders. Methods: We used data of a large, multicenter, randomized trial (n = 644). Pearson chi-squared tests, analysis of variance, and multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to explore associations of the type of the disorder and HRQOL with different types of productivity losses. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to assess associations with the duration of absenteeism. Results: The type of the disorder, disease severity, and HRQOL were associated with different types of productivity losses. Health-related quality of life and age were significantly associated with the duration of absenteeism. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that HRQOL may significantly explain the type of productivity loss as well as the duration of absenteeism. © 2014 by American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.