Relation between work hours, work control, work stress, and quality of life in persons with spinal cord injury

Abstract

BackgroundWork participation is related to a better quality of life (QoL) for people with spinal cord injury (SCI), however, the specific work characteristics that are related to QoL in people with SCI are largely unknown. ObjectivesTo investigate which work characteristics are related to QoL in people with SCI. MethodsCross-sectional survey of people with SCI in the Netherlands. The survey consisted of demographic, SCI-related, and work-related items. Work control was measured with the short Job Content Questionnaire and work stress with the effort-reward imbalance (ERI). People of working age with at least 1 h of paid work per week were included. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to examine the contribution of work characteristics to QoL while controlling for potential clinical and demographic confounders. ResultsThe study included 169 persons with SCI (74.6 % male, 47.8 ± 9.3 years, time since injury 18.9 ± 11.1 years). The final hierarchical regression model explained 31 % of the variance in QoL. The number of SCI-related health complications contributed the strongest to QoL (ß = −.36), followed by work hours (β = .24), and work stress (β = .24). However, work control did not contribute significantly to QoL in our final model. ConclusionWork hours and work stress contributed to QoL in people with SCI, but the number of SCI-related health complications was the strongest contributor. Future research and vocational rehabilitation should be directed to both medical and work-related variables to enhance the QoL of working people with SCI.