TY - JOUR A1 - Muschalla, Beate T1 - Negative work perception not changed in a short work-anxiety-coping group therapy intervention JF - International journal of occupational and environmental health N2 - Background: Work anxiety is often associated with long-term sick leave and requires early intervention. Work anxieties are associated with negative work perception. Therefore, one aim in early intervention is a cognitive reframing of dysfunctional perceptions of workplace characteristics. Methods: A psychotherapeutic specialist conducted two group programs of four sessions each. One hundred twenty-three rehabilitation in-patients with work anxieties were randomly assigned either to a work anxiety-coping group or to a recreational group. The Short Questionnaire for Work Analysis (KFZA) was administered before and after the group treatment to measure perceptions of working conditions. Results: Participants from the work anxiety-coping group did not see their work in a significantly more positive light at the end of the intervention compared to participants from the recreational group. Conclusions: A short work anxiety-coping group did not initiate a consistent positive re-appraisal of work. Employers and occupational physicians should not expect positive changes of work perception when an employee returns from short medical rehabilitation including work-directed treatment. Additional support from the workplace must be considered, e.g. employer-physician-employee conversation preceding return to work, or (temporary) work adjustment. KW - Workplace KW - Mental health KW - Anxiety KW - Sick leave KW - Work-oriented interventions KW - Work perception KW - Return to work KW - Mental disorders Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/10773525.2016.1238663 SN - 1077-3525 SN - 2049-3967 VL - 22 SP - 321 EP - 324 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Muschalla, Beate A1 - Jöbges, Michael T1 - Prevalence and Characteristics of Work Anxiety in Medical Rehabilitation Patients BT - a cross-sectional observation study JF - Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation N2 - Objective: To investigate frequency, type, and characteristics of work anxieties in patients with somatic illness. Design: Cross-sectional observation study. Setting: Neurology, orthopedic, and cardiology rehabilitation clinics. Participants: Patients (N=4610; age, 18-65y) with work anxieties. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Patients who scored high on at least 2 of 9 items in the work-anxiety screening questionnaire and who reported impairment were investigated with a differential diagnostic interview on work anxieties and with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview on non work-related common mental disorders. Patients also filled out a self-rating questionnaire on their subjective symptom load and sociodemographic data. Results: Approximately 20% to 27% of the investigated inpatients in somatic rehabilitation (altogether n=393) received a work-anxiety diagnosis. Patients with orthopedic illness report highest work anxiety and have previous longest sick leave (20.6wk in the past 12mo). Patients with orthopedic illness suffer from work-related adjustment disorder with anxiety, social anxieties, and workplace phobias, whereas patients with cardiac illness are more often affected by hypochondriac anxieties. Anxieties of insufficiency and worrying occur equally in all indications. Conclusions: About a quarter of patients in somatic rehabilitation are in need of additional diagnostic attention owing to work anxieties. Differential diagnostic of work anxiety is needed for initiating adequate therapeutic action. Somatic rehabilitation physicians should be aware of work anxieties in their patients, especially in patients with orthopedic illness with previous long-term sick leave. (c) 2017 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine KW - Anxiety KW - Mental health KW - Rehabilitation KW - Sick leave KW - Workplace Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2017.06.017 SN - 0003-9993 SN - 1532-821X VL - 99 IS - 1 SP - 57 EP - 64 PB - Elsevier CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Muschalla, Beate A1 - Fay, Doris A1 - Linden, M. T1 - Self-reported workplace perception as indicators of work anxieties JF - Occupational medicine N2 - Work anxiety is a potentially disabling mental health problem, which can cause (long-term) sickness absence. In many cases patients do not openly report their anxieties and tend to give externalizing explanations of inner problems. Therefore people with work anxiety may perceive their workplace more negatively than those without such anxiety. To investigate the relation between subjective work description and work anxiety. There were 148 inpatient participants and 8015 general population controls. Patients with work anxiety described their workplace significantly more negatively than patients without work anxiety and employees in the general population, with no differences in workplace descriptions between psychosomatic patients without work anxiety and the general population sample. The type of complaint about work conditions was related to the specific type of work anxiety. Reports about workplace burdens can be indicative of work anxiety and should prompt further in-depth assessments. The content of complaints about work conditions may point to the type of underlying work anxiety. KW - Anxiety KW - diagnostic KW - sickness absence KW - work anxiety KW - workplace Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqv160 SN - 0962-7480 SN - 1471-8405 VL - 66 SP - 168 EP - 170 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Muschalla, Beate A1 - Linden, Michael T1 - Workplace phobia, workplace problems, and work ability among primary care patients with chronic mental disorders JF - Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine N2 - Purpose: Work-related anxieties are frequent and have a negative effect on the occupational performance of patients and absence due to sickness. Most important is workplace phobia, that is, panic when approaching or even thinking of the workplace. This study is the first to estimate the prevalence of workplace phobia among primary care patients suffering from chronic mental disorders and to describe which illness-related or workplace-specific context factors are associated with workplace phobia. Methods: A convenience sample of 288 primary care patients with chronic mental disorders (70% women) seen by 40 primary care clinicians in Germany were assessed using a standardized diagnostic interview about mental disorders and workplace problems. Workplace phobia was assessed by the Workplace Phobia Scale and a structured Diagnostic and Statical Manual of Mental Disorders-based diagnostic interview. In addition, capacity and participation restrictions, illness severity, and sick leave were assessed. Results: Workplace phobia was found in 10% of patients with chronic mental disorders, that is, approximately about 3% of all general practice patients. Patients with workplace phobia had longer durations of sick leave than patients without workplace phobia and were impaired to a higher degree in work-relevant capacities. They also had a higher degree of restrictions in participation in other areas of life. Conclusions: Workplace phobia seems to be a frequent problem in primary care. It may behoove primary care clinicians to consider workplace-related anxiety, including phobia, particularly when patients ask for a work excuse for nonspecific somatic complaints. KW - Anxiety KW - Mental Health KW - Sick Leave KW - Workplace Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2014.04.130308 SN - 1557-2625 SN - 1558-7118 VL - 27 IS - 4 SP - 486 EP - 494 PB - American Board of Family Medicine CY - Lexington ER -