SICK-LEAVE DUE TO MINOR PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY - ROLE OF SEX INTEGRATION

During the years 1985-1987 all sick-leave spells exceeding 7 days, tog ether with a number of demographic variables, were registered in a Swe dish county. Using this register, the 3,100 employed persons with at l east one sick-leave per year due to minor psychiatric morbidity were a nalysed with regard to age, occupation and sex. The annual cumulative incidence was 1.7% of the employed population. In 1985 the female inci dence was 2.1% and the male incidence was 1.3%. Incidence was highest in the middle-aged. The mean number of absence days per sick-listed pe rson was 73 in 1985. For women, the corresponding figure was 63 and fo r men, 82. Industrial occupations had the highest incidence and with f ew exceptions, women had a higher incidence than men in each occupatio n. Occupations were categorized into five groups according to the numb er of women and men employed. Women in extremely male-dominated occupa tions had the highest incidence of all groups, 4.6%. Men in extremely female-dominated occupations had the highest incidence of all men, 2.9 %. Occupations with an equal sex distribution had the lowest sick-leav e incidence, 1.2%. Further studies on the influence of sex integration on sickness absence need to be done.