The impact of function on work status for community dwelling
disabled persons with arthritis: An analysis of the National Health Interview
Survey Disability Supplement
Issue title: Work Occupations and Outcomes Internationally
and Across the Lifespan
Affiliations: Cleveland State University, Department of Health
Sciences, Cleveland, OH, USA | Division of Physical Therapy, Department of
Rehabilitation Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA,
USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dr. Milidonis, 2121 Euclid Avenue
Health Science Building, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA. E-mail:
m.milidonis@csuohio.edu
Abstract: Arthritis is one of the most common diseases and a leading cause of
disability in adults. Returning injured workers to work and preventing work
disability is the primary mission of occupational health professionals. The
purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with work
disability and intervention strategies. This study is a retrospective cohort
analysis of secondary individual level data. The data for the study were
collected by the National Health Interview Survey, Disability Supplement
(NHIS-D) 1995. Community dwelling disabled persons with functional limitations
due to arthritic conditions were included in this analysis. A total of 286
records were available for logistic regression analysis. The outcome variable
was work status, either working or not working. The significant predictors of
working status were ability to lift 10 pounds (OR = 1.64), college education
(OR = 0.21), age (OR = 1.03), and less than high school education (OR = 2.48).
Thirty-four percent of the variance in working status was explained by the
model that also included health status, difficulty standing, difficulty walking
up steps, difficulty walking 1/4 mile, ethnicity, and gender. Younger disabled
persons with arthritis, who have little difficulty lifting 10 pounds, and have
some college education have better odds of working. Occupational health
professionals need to look for ways to improve the educational status and
functional lifting ability of disabled individuals with arthritis.
Keywords: arthritis, work status, function, disability
