Employment status of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: To describe the employment status of Brazilians with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Analysis of a cross-sectional online survey including questions on demographic and occupational status at the time of diagnosis and survey completion, and time from the first symptom to diagnosis. Results: Of those who answered the survey, 804 Brazilians with MS were included. Median age of onset and current age were 28.3 and 36.2 years; median time to diagnosis and disease duration were 2.7 and 7.9 years; 67% held a university degree and 29% finished high school; 94% had a paid occupation contributing to the family income at least once in their lives, 77% were employed at the time of diagnosis but only 59% were employed at the time of survey. Longer disease duration, longer time to diagnosis and younger age at the first symptom, were identified as factors correlated with being unemployed. Conclusions: The rate of unemployment doubled after the first symptoms of MS, and only 59% of highly-educated people with MS in their productive years were employed. The longer time to diagnosis may imply treatment delay, and strategies focusing on early diagnosis and adequate treatment may favor employment retention and reduce disability related costs, such as social benefits and pension fund use.

Spatial and temporal distribution of the prevalence of unemployment and early retirement in people with multiple sclerosis: A systematic review with meta-analysis

“…The overall pooled estimate of the prevalence of early retirement was 17.2% (CI 95% 14.6–20.2, I 2 = 99.13). The three countries with the highest effect sizes were the Czech Republic (48.9%; 95% CI 45.7–52.2) [ 40 ], Austria (44.4%; 95% CI 41.4–47.5) [ 39 ] and Brazil (37.1%; 95% CI 30.9–43.9) [ 56 ] while Russia (1.5%; 95% CI 0.4–4.5) [ 45 ], France (3.2%; 95% CI 1.9–5.5) [ 86 ] and Iran (3.7%; 95% CI 2.0–6.5) [ 59 ] had the lowest proportions ( Fig 5 ). The geographical distribution of the studies is uneven, with Europe (39, 58.2%) and North America (18, 26.9%) accounting for most of the publications.…”

“…Austria [39], Czech Republic [40], Greece [41], Hungary [42], Kuwait [43], Portugal [44], Russia [45], and Argentina [46] each contributed with one (0.6%) publication reporting the prevalence of unemployed subjects. Ireland [47,48], Israel [49,50], Poland [51,52], and Saudi Arabia [53,54] contributed with two (1.3%) studies each while Brazil [55][56][57], Iran [58][59][60], Holland [61][62][63], Norway [11, 64,65], and Switzerland [66][67][68] contributed with [44] accounted for the highest values. There was a statistically significant difference between the effect sizes of countries (p < 0.001) (Fig 4).…”

Occupational outcomes of people with multiple sclerosis: a scoping review

“…Neusser et al reported an estimated total expenditure of 4.3 billion euros annually when considering all interventions enabling work-life integration 41. Studies on the economic impact of MS come from different countries and continents,7 9 42–44 so the interpretation of their findings must necessarily take into account the specific social security systems of different countries.…”

“…The impact of MS on work activities has already been evaluated in many studies carried out in different parts of the world 7–10. Calabrese et al demonstrated that workforce participation can decline from 82% to 8% and employment rates vary between 31% and 65%,7 being influenced by factors such as the degree of disability, the duration of disease, the level of education and the type of work activity.…”

Avaliação Dos Sintomas Urinários E Sexuais Em Portadores De Esclerose Múltipla

“…A esclerose múltipla (EM) é uma doença crônica autoimune, inflamatória e desmielinizante que afeta o sistema nervoso central. Sua incidência varia de acordo com a geografia, idade, etnia e sexo e a aparição dos sintomas iniciase no pico da vida produtiva, entre 20 e 40 anos de idade, comprometendo assim a qualidade de vida e a produtividade do paciente, impactando negativamente na autonomia pessoal e situação laboral (ESTRUTTI et al, 2019).…”