We conducted a work-related stress surveillance study in 2013 on 6558 public-sector employees in Italy, examining how they perceived their jobs, via the Job Content Questionnaire, and their mental health status, via the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12). Of the 2094 employees completing the questionnaires, 60% were male, 52% had a medium-level education, and 76% had a medium-level job. Three hundred and eighty-five employees (18%) had a GHQ-12 score >3 and were classified as GHQ-12 cases: these were more often female (54%), medium-to-highly educated (54%), and had more often reported health problems over the previous year (51%). Thus, GHQ-12 cases represented a significant percentage of our examined population, indicating that work-related stress surveillance programs are needed for the planning of psychosocial interventions aimed at the reintegration of individuals with mental health problems.
