Affiliations: University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA | Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA | Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Malachy Bishop, Ph.D., CRC, 224 Taylor Education Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA. Tel.: +1 859 257 4291; E-mail: mbishop@uky.edu.
Abstract: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) may face numerous barriers to employment retention. Comprehensively understanding these barriers is important for implementing effective vocational rehabilitation interventions. Although several demographic and MS-related variables have consistently been found to be related to employment status, self-management and adherence to treatment have infrequently been evaluated in this context. This article explores the relationships between employment status and the use of disease-modifying therapy and self-management among a community-based sample of adults with MS using both bivariate and multivariate analyses. Group comparisons between employed and unemployed adults with MS suggested that both self-management and DMT use are significantly related to employment. In a stepwise binary logistic regression analysis, age, duration in years diagnosed with MS, and scores on a multi-dimensional MS self-management scale were positively related to employment. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for rehabilitation intervention.
Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, self-management, employment status
