RESEARCH - Work environment tied to arthritis disability risk

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Work environment tied to arthritis disability risk

Last Updated: 2004-11-26 10:00:01 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A change in certain work conditions may help

adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) stay on the job, preliminary

research suggests.

The survey of nearly 600 adults with RA found that certain work-related

factors, such as whether workers received ergonomic adjustments to their

workstations, and the difficulty of the commute to work, were tied to

the risk of work disability.

People whose personal work space was modified to make them more

comfortable were 60 percent less likely to currently be away from work,

compared with those who reported no such workstation adjustments. These

included, for example, a change in the position of a computer keyboard,

or a footstool added to a person's desk area.

In addition, men and women who reported more problems getting to work,

including physical difficulty in doing so, were at greater risk of work

disability, defined as being off of work for at least six months due to

RA symptoms.

But the strongest factor the study found was self-employment; survey

respondents who were self-employed were five times less likely to report

work disability than those who weren't.

Self-employment is " obviously not for everyone, " said the study's lead

author, Dr. Diane Lacaille, of the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada

in Vancouver. Still, she told Reuters Health, it's important for people

with RA to know that if they have the option of self-employment, which

often entails working from home, it might reduce their risk of

work-related disability.

Lacaille and her colleagues report their findings in the journal

Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune

system mistakenly attacks the lining of the joints, causing repeated

episodes of inflammation, stiffness and pain. Over time, the affected

joints may lose their normal shape and alignment.

Discovering the modifiable factors that determine RA patients' ability

to stay on the job is important because the condition often strikes in

middle-age or earlier, frequently in the prime of a person's working

life, Lacaille noted.

" The cost of loss of work productivity, " she said, " is greater than the

cost of treating the disease, " which includes medication and, when

necessary, hospitalization and surgery.

Lacaille and her colleagues found several factors other than

self-employment, ergonomically friendly workstations and smoother

commutes that were related to a lower risk of disability. RA patients

whose families supported their staying on the job were less likely to be

work disabled. So were those who said their work was important to them.

Of all these factors, work-space modifications would be the easiest to

tackle, Lacaille said. She noted that some changes, such as providing a

footstool for a desk worker's feet or using books to raise a computer

screen to eye level, " can be quite easy and not expensive. "

SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism, October 15, 2004

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