To understand arthritis-related workplace changes, including occasional work loss and changes to the type and hours of work, and the factors associated with them using theories of adaptation and behaviour change as a framework.
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Participants were 492 employed individuals with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. They completed an interview-administered, structured questionnaire assessing demographic, workplace, and psychosocial variables, as well as such work transitions as changes to the hours, type and nature of work. Hypotheses were examined using multiple linear regression.
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Seventy percent of respondents made at least one work change. Younger participants and those with greater workplace activity limitations reported more changes. Work changes were associated with greater depression. A hypothesized 3-way interaction among people’s perceptions of their capacity, their future job expectations, and whether they had told their employer about their arthritis was significant.
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This study extends arthritis employment research by examining a range of work changes. It highlights the dynamic interplay among arthritis, workplace, and psychosocial variables to understand adaptation to arthritis disability.
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| Work transition variables | No. (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Occasional loss of work hours | |||
| Work interrupted ≥ 20 min | 188 (38.2) | ||
| Days absent, mean ±SD | 4.56 ± 12.48 | ||
| 0 | 298 (60.6) | ||
| 1 | 25 (4.9) | ||
| 2 | 37 (7.5) | ||
| ≥ 3 | 131 (26.8) | ||
| Use vacation days | 47 (9.6) | ||
| Change to type/nature of work | |||
| Change type of work | 99 (20.1) | ||
| Unable to seek promotion or job transfer | 48 (9.8) | ||
| Unable to take on extra projects or responsibilities | 109 (22.2) | ||
| Permanent change of work hours | |||
| Change work hours | 105 (21.3) | ||
| Respondents reporting no work transitions | 144 (29.3) | ||
| Total work transition score, mean ± SD | 1.60 ± 1.56 | ||
Table 2 presents percentages of respondents reporting the 7 work transition behaviours. On average, participants reported 1.6 work changes (SD 1.6) with > 70% of participants reporting at least 1 arthritis-related work change. Approximately 28% reported 1 work transition, 18.3% reported 2 work transitions, and 24.6% reported ≥ 3 work transitions.
| Characteristic | Reference category | b | ß | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | -0.03 | -0.19 | 0.00 | ||
| Sex | Male | -0.05 | -0.01 | 0.77 | |
| Marital status | Married/common-law | ||||
| Widowed/div/sep | -0.04 | -0.01 | 0.79 | ||
| Never married | 0.18 | 0.04 | 0.38 | ||
| Education | Postgraduate | ||||
| Secondary or less | -0.41 | -0.10 | 0.08 | ||
| Some postsecondary | -0.32 | -0.09 | 0.14 | ||
| Postsecondary | -0.11 | -0.03 | 0.58 | ||
| Household income, $ | ≤100,000 | ||||
| ≤39,999 | -0.02 | -0.01 | 0.93 | ||
| 40,0000-69,999 | -0.07 | -0.02 | 0.74 | ||
| 70,000-99,999 | 0.16 | -0.05 | 0.47 | ||
| Diagnosis | Inflammatory | ||||
| Non-inflammatory | -0.41 | -0.13 | 0.01 | ||
| Both | 0.50 | 0.10 | 0.05 | ||
| Duration | 0.01 | 0.06 | 0.16 | ||
| Occupational field | Business, finance, admin | ||||
| Health, science, art, sport | -0.19 | -0.06 | 0.45 | ||
| Sales and service | 0.16 | 0.04 | 0.43 | ||
| Trades and transportation | 0.18 | 0.06 | 0.48 | ||
| Employer knows about arthritis | No | 0.60 | 0.16 | 0.00 | |
| Job involves physical activity | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.37 | ||
| Workplace limitations | 0.17 | 0.48 | 0.00 | ||
| Depression | 0.06 | 0.42 | 0.00 | ||
| Changed capacities and goals | 0.14 | 0.48 | 0.00 | ||
| Future job expectations | No | 1.24 | 0.25 | 0.00 | |
Bivariate regression analyses examined the relationship of total work transition scores to demographic, work limitation, and psychological variables. The results presented in Table 3 show that older respondents and those with OA reported fewer work transitions than younger respondents and those with inflammatory arthritis. Respondents with both types of arthritis reported significantly more work transitions than individuals with inflammatory arthritis alone. In addition participants reporting greater workplace limitations, whose employers knew about their arthritis, who reported greater change capacities and goals, had grater depression scores, and who anticipated leaving their job in the next year reported more work transitions.
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| By Age | ||||||
| N | Mean | Std Dev | Minimum | Maximum | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| below 40 | 59 | 1.949 | 1.547 | 0 | 6 | |
| 40-49 | 128 | 1.852 | 1.485 | 0 | 6 | |
| 50-59 | 222 | 1.563 | 1.604 | 0 | 7 | |
| 60+ | 81 | 1.111 | 1.466 | 0 | 7 | |
| By Gender | ||||||
| N | Mean | Std Dev | Minimum | Maximum | ||
| Male | 109 | 1.642 | 1.713 | 0 | 7 | |
| Female | 381 | 1.601 | 1.519 | 0 | 7 | |
| By Diagnosis | ||||||
| N | Mean | Std Dev | Minimum | Maximum | ||
| Inflammatory Arthritis | 163 | 1.810 | 1.501 | 0 | 6 | |
| Osteoarthritis | 278 | 1.374 | 1.512 | 0 | 7 | |
| Both IA & OA | 49 | 2.286 | 1.780 | 0 | 7 | |
This table demonstrates the relationship between work transitions and age, gender, and diagnosis. By age, it is clear that at younger ages, people with arthritis are making more work changes. There are a number of factors that could influence this age effect; for example, juggling career with a young family, or dealing with the onset of a chronic illness. There were no significant differences by gender. By diagnosis, it appears that people with inflammatory arthritis make more work changes than those with osteoarthritis. As well, those with both forms of arthritis appear to be making more changes at work.
