Affiliations: Dipartimento di Scienze Filosofiche, Università di
Cassino, Cassino, Italy | Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della
Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy | Divisione di Neurologia, Ospedale Civile S. Bortolo,
Vicenza, Italy | Centro Sclerosi Multipla e Continuità
Assistenziale Neurologica, Ospedale S. Bortolo, Vicenza, Italy | Servizio di Psicologia, Ospedale Civile S. Bortolo,
Vicenza, Italy
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Teresa Maria Sgaramella,
Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione,
Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Belzoni, 80 35137 Padova, Italy.
Tel.: +39 827 8458; E-mail: teresamaria.sgaramella@unipd.it
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Literature has shown that work maintenance is
central in order to guarantee participation to persons with disability.
Knowledge about potential sources of difficulties and obstacles is then crucial
in order to prevent barriers and facilitate work maintenance and career
development for persons with disabilities. OBJECTIVE: Studies analyzing
on-the-job barriers among employed people with multiple sclerosis (MS) have
found evidence for a role of clinical determinants. The aim of this study was
to describe in more detail the role of disability severity and of cognitive
indices on work barriers. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two employed adults with a
diagnosis of MS with mild to moderate disability severity were included in the
study. They were involved in the descriptive study while attending their
planned care in the MS unit. METHODS: Subjects completed neurocognitive
tasks, a self-report measure of executive functioning and a face-to-face
semi-structured interview exploring their perception of barriers at work. RESULTS: Regression analyses showed a specific role of disability severity on
perception of barriers due to physical, cognitive and interpersonal
relationships; cognitive indices, on the other hand, predicted barriers ascribed to
company policy (cognitive score), to accessibility (planning score) or
difficulties in cognitive and task related abilities (self-rated executive functioning). CONCLUSION: These findings underline the relevance of
objective tasks and self-report questionnaire, direct and indirect
multi-dimensional assessment of functioning for an early intervention planning. An
ecological model of career development in adults with disabilities is also supported.
