Aj. Partridge et al., RISK-FACTORS FOR EARLY WORK DISABILITY IN SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS - RESULTS FROM A MULTICENTER STUDY, Arthritis and rheumatism, 40(12), 1997, pp. 2199-2206
Objective. To study the risk factors for early work disability in syst
emic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods. A sample of 159 SLE patients
who had been employed at some time since diagnosis was drawn from a mu
lticenter study Of outcome in SLE, Disease activity, organ damage, edu
cation, income, source of health insurance, and work-related factors w
ere measured in a standardized interview, Work disability was defined
by patient self-report of not working because of SLE, The outcome meas
ure was current work status, Seven patients were excluded from the ana
lysis because their choice not to work was unrelated to SLE. Results.
An average of 3.4 years after diagnosis, 40% had quit work completely,
and job modification was substantial, Univariate analysis (chi-square
and t-test) showed that significant predictors of early work disabili
ty included having a high school education or less, receiving Medicaid
or having no health insurance, having a job which required more physi
cal strength, having an income below poverty level, and having greater
disease activity at diagnosis, In multivariate models; significant pr
edictors were education level (P = 0.0004), higher physical demands of
the job (P = 0.0028), and higher disease activity at diagnosis (P = 0
.0078), Race, sex, cumulative organ damage at diagnosis, and disease d
uration were not significant. Conclusion. Early work disability in SLE
is strongly associated with some sociodemographic factors that might
be amenable to intervention.