STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE: WHAT ECONOMIC EVALUATION?

The aim of the work is that of combining and synthesizing the existing economic evaluation of the cost of work related stress (WRS), a broad and multifaceted phenomenon whose economic weight is largely underestimated. Starting from a review of the available evidence, cost of illness studies are organized by objectives, methodological approach and cost components (both direct, indirect and intangible). The analysis suggests that a huge amount of resources is absorbed by WRS from society and underlines some issues that are still open at international level: marked differences in definition of WRS, source of data, in its measure and methodology, in the consideration of all the cost components make comparison across sectors and countries very difficult to interpret. Furthermore, the inclusion of indirect and intangible components (often neglected) is essential to derive and obtain a holistic economic model of the total cost of WRS and to have a more representative estimate of the financial burden imposed by this problem, whose scale and magnitude strongly call for preventive measures. Key words: work-related stress; economic evaluation; cost-of-illness study; intangible costs.