Interventions in Relation to Occupational Burnout: The Population-Based Health 2000 Study

Abstract

To study participation in occupational and individual-focused interventions in relation to burnout. We used data from a questionnaire, structured interview, national register of psychopharmacological prescriptions, and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview in a nationally representative Finnish sample of 3276 employees (30 to 64 years). When compared with employees free of burnout, the odds ratio of severe burnout for participation in occupational interventions was 0.41 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.26 to 0.65) and in individual-focused interventions 5.36 (95% CI = 3.14 to 9.17). Antidepressant prescriptions were 2.53 (95% CI = 1.04 to 6.15) times more common among those with severe burnout than among those without burnout after adjustment for depressive and anxiety disorders. Employees with burnout were less often targets of occupational interventions but participated more in individual-focused interventions when compared with other employees. The use of antidepressants among employees with severe burnout was not fully explained by coexisting depressive or anxiety disorders.