Employment among persons with past and current mood and anxiety disorders in the Israel National Health Survey.

OBJECTIVE: The study examined associations between having a past or current mood or anxiety disorder and being employed in the past month and salary level.
METHODS: The Israel National Health Survey used data from the National Population Register to compile a representative sample of noninstitutionalized residents aged 21 and older. Data for this study were from 4,859 persons interviewed in their homes between May 2003 and April 2004. Lifetime, past-year, and past-month DSM-IV mood and anxiety disorders were assessed with a revised version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Respondents self-reported employment and salary information. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations.
RESULTS: The employment rate was lowest-35%-among respondents with a past-month mood or anxiety disorder, compared with rates of 52% among those with a past-year disorder, 60% among those with a lifetime disorder who did not have a disorder in the past year, and 58% among those with no disorder. No significant differences in rates of employment were found between those who had never had a disorder and those who had a lifetime or past-year disorder. Age at onset of the disorder was related to earning above the average salary for the population of Israel: those with onset before age 25 had lower odds of being in the above-average group.
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that employment was affected only during the acute phase of a disorder and that early onset had lasting effects in terms of job level and salary.