29 October 2004 - New Research Report by HSE on Impact of Psychotropic Medication use in Workplace
Psychotropic medicines, more commonly known as anti-depressants, prescribed by doctors for treatments such as, sleep problems, depression, eating disorders anxiety etc., are used by perhaps as many as 10% of the workforce in any given year.
With a view to assessing the possible accidents and cognitive failures which may occur and the impact those types of medications have within the workforce, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) funded research to be carried out by the Cardiff University's Centre for Occupational and Health Psychology.
The research covered three main areas within the workforce, which was to establish the types of people who required this type of medication and their needs. To investigate their performance and efficiency and whether their medication perhaps contributed to accidents and cognitive failures.
Some findings by the researchers are as follows:
- psychotropic medication use may reduce performance efficiency with consequences for safety at work;
- there was no association between SSRI use or any other psychotropic medication and minor injuries at work; given the large number of working individuals taking psychotropic medication more should be known about how they affect performance and thus further research is advocated.
- given the large number of working individuals taking psychotropic medication more should be known about how they affect performance and thus further research is advocated.
The research report can be accessed by clicking the following: RR282 - The scale and impact of psychotropic medication use by workers
Article by Alexandra Johnston
