Publication date: Jun 09, 2026
The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased prevalence of psychological disorder in population-based studies, but the effect on the ability to work has been less well studied, except in health workers. This study aimed to assess whether there has been an increase in the number of people seeking assistance for psychological problems from the Sheffield Occupational Health Advisory service in the UK since the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used routinely collected data at Sheffield Occupational Health Advisory Service (SOHAS) to compare the proportion of all new referrals presenting with psychological problems for 3 years prior to (2017-2019) and following the pandemic (2022-2024). Statistical differences were assessed using the chi-square test. Psychological problems were the most common health problem presenting among those seeking advice at SOHAS both before (57. 9%) and after the pandemic (61. 5%); this was a small, but significant, difference (P
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Covid | Advice |
| Increased | Advisory |
| Pandemic | Based |
| Sheffield | Covid |
| Disorder | |
| Increased | |
| Led | |
| Occupational | |
| Pandemic | |
| Population | |
| Presenting | |
| Prevalence | |
| Psychological | |
| Seeking | |
| Sheffield |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |