Impact of organisational change on mental health:A systematic review

Although limited evidence is available, organisationalchange is often cited as the cause of mental healthproblems. This paper provides an overview of thecurrent literature regarding the impact of organisationalchange on mental health. A systematic search inPUBMED, PsychInfo and Web of Knowledge combiningMeSH search terms for exposure and outcome. Thecriterion for inclusion was original data on exposure toorganisational change with mental health problems asoutcome. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studieswere included. We found in 11 out of 17 studies, anassociation between organisational change andelevated risk of mental health problems was observed,with a less provident association in the longitudinalstudies. Based on the current research, this reviewcannot provide sufficient evidence of an associationbetween organisational change and elevated risk ofmental health problems. More studies of long-termeffects are required including relevant analyses ofconfounders