Financial concerns linked to symptoms of depression in healthcare workers

The largest study of its kind, led by the University of Leicester in collaboration with UCL, found that money worries were associated with an increased risk of depression, particularly in nursing staff. The proportion of workers who had concerns about finances rose from 56% of staff at the start of the study to 78% in 2022. During that period, the proportion who reported having no financial concerns at all dropped by half, from 44% at baseline to 22% in 2022, whereas the proportion who were extremely concerned about finances more than doubled from 1.9% to 4. Those who were extremely concerned about finances at baseline were approximately three times more likely to meet the screening criteria for depression at follow-up, compared to those who were not at all concerned at baseline. The findings also showed that those in nursing, midwifery and other roles allied to nursing were more likely to have symptoms of depression and had approximately twice the odds of developing financial concerns at follow up compared to those in medical roles. Professor Manish Pareek from the University's Department of Respiratory Sciences and Chair in Infectious Diseases at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, and chief investigator for the UK-REACH study, said:  "Our findings are stark and highlight that staff working in healthcare are increasingly concerned about their financial positions. These heightened financial concerns predict the later development of depressive symptoms with those in nursing, midwifery and other allied nursing roles disproportionately impacted.