Campbell, D. et al. (2022) Effects of depression on employment and social outcomes: a Mendelian randomisation study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 76(6), pp. 563-571. (doi: 10.1136/jech-2021-218074) (PMID:35318279) (PMCID:PMC9118074)
![[img]](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png) |
Text
265853.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. 1MB |
Abstract
Background: Depression is associated with socioeconomic disadvantage. However, whether and how depression exerts a causal effect on employment remains unclear. We used Mendelian randomisation (MR) to investigate whether depression affects employment and related outcomes in the UK Biobank dataset. Methods: We selected 227 242 working-age participants (40–64 in men, 40–59 years for women) of white British ethnicity/ancestry with suitable genetic data in the UK Biobank study. We used 30 independent genetic variants associated with depression as instruments. We conducted observational and two-sample MR analyses. Outcomes were employment status (employed vs not, and employed vs sickness/disability, unemployment, retirement or caring for home/family); weekly hours worked (among employed); Townsend Deprivation Index; highest educational attainment; and household income. Results: People who had experienced depression had higher odds of non-employment, sickness/disability, unemployment, caring for home/family and early retirement. Depression was associated with reduced weekly hours worked, lower household income and lower educational attainment, and increased deprivation. MR analyses suggested depression liability caused increased non-employment (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.26) and sickness/disability (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.34 to 1.82), but was not causal for caring for home/family, early retirement or unemployment. There was little evidence from MR that depression affected weekly hours worked, educational attainment, household income or deprivation. Conclusions: Depression liability appears to cause increased non-employment, particularly by increasing disability. There was little evidence of depression affecting early retirement, hours worked or household income, but power was low. Effective treatment of depression might have important economic benefits to individuals and society.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Katikireddi, Professor Vittal and Campbell, Dr Desmond and Demou, Dr Evangelia and Green, Dr Michael and Smith, Professor Daniel |
| Authors: | Campbell, D., Green, M. J., Davies, N., Demou, E., Howe, L. D., Harrison, S., Smith, D. J., Howard, D. M., McIntosh, A. M., Munafò, M., and Katikireddi, S. V. |
| College/School: | College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU |
| Journal Name: | Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health |
| Publisher: | BMJ Publishing Group |
| ISSN: | 0143-005X |
| ISSN (Online): | 1470-2738 |
| Published Online: | 22 March 2022 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2022 The Authors |
| First Published: | First published in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2022 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons License |
University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record
Funder and Project Information
Funder and Project Information