OBJECTIVES

: How long does sick leave last for a patient with depression in Germany and which demographic factors influence this duration?

METHODS

: This retrospective study used the data from Disease Analyzer database (IQVIA). Employed patients between the ages of 25 and 60 years with a depression diagnosis (F32, F33) and a sick note from a general practitioner (GP) or psychiatrist (PS) in 2016 were selected. The median total duration of the sick leave was calculated and evaluated according to sex and age groups. In addition, demographic variables and documented co-diagnoses were included as risk factors. Their influence on the duration of sick leave was determined using multivariate linear regression.

RESULTS

: The database included 21,561 patients on depression-related sick leave treated by 792 GP and 2,944 patients treated by 105 PS. GP patients were on average 43 years old (SD:10) and 59% of them were female, while PS patients were on average 46 years old (SD: 10) and 57% were female. The average duration of the sick leave was 31 days (SD: 61) among GP patients and 68 days (SD: 104) among PS patients. In total, 14% of GP patients and 30% of PS patients were unable to work for more than 42 days. The duration of sick leave increased significantly with age; sex had no significant effect on duration. Patients with documented workplace problems were on sick leave for significantly longer.

CONCLUSIONS

: Depression is usually chronic and involves a high level of suffering. Almost 60% of depression patients on sick leave were female, with older patients and patients with workplace problems, in particular, being unable to work for longer periods. The average ITW duration was more than twice as long in PS patients than in GP patients.