Can burnout measure be useful in screening for disability pensions?
- Joanna W Wieclaw, Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; joanwiec{at}rm.dk
- Accepted 29 August 2008
There is a worrying tendency of a growing proportion of work disabilities to result from mental health problems.1 This calls for more research into the causes of this development and in prevention strategies.
Generally, the reasons for receiving a disability pension can be seen as a combination of life circumstances and individual characteristics, including inborn/genetic susceptibility to illness (both physical and mental) and personality characteristics. Work life factors play a central role for persons of an active working age. Holding a job not only provides a source of income, socioeconomic position and status, but is also a vital part of a person’s identity and meaning in life. Therefore, becoming a disability pensioner not only has economic consequences, which are partly taken care of by the disability pension, but also affects personal life, the feeling of meaningfulness and one’s position in society. For society as a whole, disability pensions impose manpower shortages and economic burdens. Therefore, preventing disability pensions is crucial and here work environment factors, which are amenable to change through, for example, early intervention and attempts to increase job satisfaction, are important areas of research.
The paper “Occupational burnout as a predictor of a disability pension: a population-based …
