HOURS AT WORK AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS AMONG HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS

Objective: To study differences in employment and work hours among thr ee groups of HIV-infected and non-infected individuals. Methods: Data on 1263 patients seen in five different sites in California were drawn from the AIDS Time-Oriented Health Outcome Study. Three groups of pat ients were examined: AIDS patients, HIV-positives without diagnosed AI DS, and HIV-negatives. The HIV-negative patients were used as a compar ison group in comparing hours worked by all patients, whether they wor ked or not; the probability of working, regardless of the number of ho urs; and work hours only for those patients who worked. Results: Adjus tment for covariates in a 2-equation econometric model reduced the dif ference in employment rates between the AIDS patients and the other tw o groups, suggesting that characteristics other than AIDS status accou nt, in part, for their low employment rates. After adjustment, we did not find any statistically significant differences in employment proba bilities or work hours between the HIV-positive patients without diagn osed AIDS and the comparison group. However, AIDS patients reported ap proximately 14 work hours fewer (P<0.0001) and lower probabilities of employment (P<0.0001) than the HIV-negative comparison group among all patients with and without jobs. Moreover, among those with jobs, pati ents with AIDS reported approximately 3 work hours fewer per week (P=0 .0385). No statistically significant differences in work hours were fo und between HIV-positives without diagnosed AIDS and comparison patien ts. Conclusion: AIDS patients were less likely to be employed than eit her of the other groups, but crude, unadjusted unemployment rates exag gerate the effect of AIDS. For those employed, AIDS patients work only 3 h less per week than either of the other groups.