Prevention of common mental disorders in employees – Conception, study design and sample characteristics of a multi-target survey

BackgroundIn Germany, no systematic approach is used to structure the cooperation of occupational health physicians (OP), primary care physicians (PP), and psychotherapists (PT) at relevant interfaces engaged in the prevention of common mental disorders (CMD) in workers. In our study, we aimed to gain insight into their perceptions and cooperation experiences, while also taking the view of human resource managers (HRM) into account. In this paper, we present the study design and sample characteristics.MethodsIn 2014, a questionnaire was sent to 1000 primary care physicians, 700 psychotherapists, 450 occupational health physicians, and 1426 human resource managers resident in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.ResultsWith response rates between 12% and 30%, only a marginal non-responder bias was found, but the disproportion of HRM in large enterprises was high.ConclusionThough our study is limited by partly low survey response rates, it provides a first and detailed standardized insight into the relevant professional interfaces preventing and caring for CMD of the working population.