Risk factors for work disability associated with arthritis and other rheumatic conditions

Abstract

In our first columnin this series on arthritis and em-ployment, we reviewed the evidence showing that thevarious forms of arthritis and other rheumatic condi-tions are associated with a substantial amount of workdisability.Whilemedicaltreatmentisofcoursethema-jor intervention for work disability, curative or evensubstantially effective treatment is often not availableleaving many people with arthritis continuing to expe-rience arthritis-related work limitations [1]. If factorsthat increase people’s risk for work disability – i.e.,work disability risk factors – can be identified and arepotentially modifiable, these factors would help guidethe development of interventions to enhance people’swork participation and performance.The purpose of this article is to review the litera-ture on risk factors for arthritis and other rheumaticcondition-related work disability. We reviewed stud-ies providing quantitative or qualitative data on riskfactors for any type of work disability outcome, e.g.,premature work cessation and productivity limitation.Productivity limitation includes absenteeism and pre-senteeism, the latter being reduced capacity to workwhile at work due to health.Risk factor studies have primarily been conductedusing samples of persons with a particular rheumatic