(in German)

Between November 2011 and June 2012, infas Institute for Applied Social Sciences conducted a representative survey with approximately 4,500 individuals aged between 31 and 60 years on behalf of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA).

The survey chiefly focuses on employability of employees as well as working disposition and stress at work. Beyond that, the survey resulted in reference values for the use of the Work Ability Index (WAI) and other indices.

All employees who were registered as socially insured at the German Federal Employment Agency (BA) on the 31st December 2011 formed the overall group for this data collection. Sampling was carried out in two stages. The first step was the regional selection of 206 municipalities (222 sample points), the second step was the drawing of employees from the Integrated Employment Biographies (Integrierte Erwerbsbiographien, IEB).

All target persons received a letter prior to and announcing the interview. All respondents were interviewed personally-orally by means of a notebook (CAPI). The interviewers provided a list of answering options in order to support the measurement. The separate three-page self-completion questionnaire (drop off) contained all sensitive questions about the psycho-social situation. 92 percent of the respondents completed this drop off.

This study's design is a panel study where the respondents' consent to save their addresses is required for future follow-up studies. 87 percent of the respondents were willing to remain in the panel. Furthermore, they were asked to consent to merging registry data from the BA (75 percent consent); a regional subsample was also asked to agree to participate in an occupational health examination (70 percent consent). The questions concerning consent were asked at the end of an interview and the consent was documented in writing.

A total of 13,590 addresses were used in the field out of which n=4,511 interviews could be obtained (with a response rate of approximately 36 percent).

Please download the complete report "Mental health at work" (in German only).