Work disability in rheumatic diseases: Baseline results from an inception cohort

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to characterize work disability in patients with newly diagnosed rheumatic diseases and compare work characteristics between patients with rheumatic diseases and controls without rheumatic diseases at diagnosis. Methods: Patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and osteoarthritis (OA), surrogates for autoimmune and non-autoimmune rheumatic diseases, respectively, and controls of working age were surveyed at diagnosis. Patients with rheumatic diseases who were employed before symptom onset were characterized as having work disability if they reported reduced work ability and productivity while remaining in the same job as before symptom onset, changed to a less demanding job or stopped working/retired. Work characteristics at diagnosis were compared between rheumatic diseases patients and controls. Results: The unemployment rate before symptom onset was lower in patients with IA (20%) compared to patients with OA (32%). Among patients with IA and OA who were employed before symptom onset, 59% and 43% reported work disability, respectively (P = .04). The unemployment rate at diagnosis was comparable in patients with IA (26%) and higher in patients with OA (38%) compared to controls (29%). Employed patients with IA and OA, when compared with controls, reported poorer work ability (score: 37 vs 39 vs 41, P < .01; proportion with poor/moderate work ability: 48% vs 33% vs 21%, P < .01) and greater work productivity loss (score: 32 vs 29 vs 17, P < .01) at diagnosis. Conclusion: Rheumatic diseases impose significant work disability at diagnosis, highlighting the need for identification and interventions targeting work disability early in the course of disease.

Promoting Work Ability With a Wearable Activity Tracker in Working Age Individuals With Hip and/or Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Both groups had a lower WAI-score at three and six month follow-up compared to baseline but the changes were small and not statistically signi cant. The scores on WAI in this study are comparable (5,16) or higher (41) than the scores reported in previous studies on working OA-populations, indicating less possibility for improving the score on WAI.…”

“…Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common musculoskeletal disorder (1) affecting both individuals and the society at large (2,3). OA often leads to pain, disability and reduced quality of life (2,4) which have been shown to affect work ability (5) and productivity (6) with presenteeism (reduced work capacity) being more common than absenteeism (7)(8)(9). In a large population-based cohort study conducted in Sweden, individuals with knee OA had an almost two-folded risk of sick leave and 40-50 % increased risk of disability pension in comparison with the general population (10).…”

Promoting work ability with a wearable activity tracker in working age individuals with hip and/or knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial

“…A sample size calculation was made using the primary outcome variable work ability measured with WAI to determine the required number of participants with a power of 80% and a two-tailed significance level of 0.05. Effect sizes (between group differences) for WAI were pragmatically based on SD on WAI from previous studies [ 5 , 41 ] with the approximation of 0.45 SD as the minimal clinically important difference [ 42 ]. The sample size calculation yielded approximately 80 participants per group.…”

“…Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common musculoskeletal disorder [ 1 ] affecting both individuals and the society at large [ 2 , 3 ]. OA often leads to pain, disability and reduced quality of life [ 2 , 4 ] which have been shown to affect work ability [ 5 ] and productivity [ 6 ] with presenteeism (reduced work capacity) being more common than absenteeism [ 7 – 9 ]. In a large population-based cohort study conducted in Sweden, individuals with knee OA had an almost two-folded risk of sick leave and 40–50% increased risk of disability pension in comparison with the general population [ 10 ].…”

Factors Associated with Objectively Measured Physical Activity in Patients with Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…It is associated with pain, stiffness, swelling, fatigue, and sleeping problems [5], having a debilitating effect on functionality. RA is also associated with cachexia [6], low quality of life (QoL) [7,8], limitations in everyday life [9,10], lower work ability [11,12], and sexual problems [13].…”