ISSN: 2329-6879

Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs
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  • Research Article   
  • Occup Med Health Aff 2018, Vol 6(4): 280
  • DOI: 10.4172/2329-6879.1000280

Work Productivity and Activity Impairment in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient

João Amaro1, Márcio Oliveira1*, Paulo Pinho1, Francisca Aguiar2, Pedro Madureira2, Isabel Fidalgo2, Iva Brito2, Pedro Norton1,3, Joao Amaro1, Francisca Aguiar and Pedro Madureira
1Department of Occupational Health, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, Porto, Portugal
2Department of Rheumatology, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, Porto, Portugal
3EPIUnit- Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
*Corresponding Author : Márcio Oliveira, Department of Occupational Health, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, Porto, Portugal, Tel: 00351915609339, Email: marcio.oliveira76@gmail.com

Received Date: Oct 08, 2018 / Accepted Date: Oct 20, 2018 / Published Date: Oct 25, 2018

Abstract

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic progressive autoimmune disease associated with a decline in functional status. Previous studies have shown that RA patients have high rates of early retirement and work absenteeism and are more likely to be unemployed or with reduced earning potential.

Objective: Characterize work disability and identify factors associated with work incapacity in rheumatoid arthritis patients from a Rheumatology clinic.

Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted in 116 patients with RA. Sociodemographic, clinical and occupational variables were collected and the validated Portuguese version of the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire-General Health (WPAI-GH) was applied to all patients currently employed. The following parameters were obtained: absenteeism, presenteeism, overall work impairment and global activity impairment. Results: Correlation coefficients between DAS28 and WPAI-GH scores were moderate-good. A high correlation coefficient was obtained between HAQ and global activity impairment (0.647).

Conclusions:
These findings support the usability of this version of WPAI-GH in a rheumatoid arthritis population and the value of associating specific work incapacity tools to clinical and functional assessment. There is a need for introduction of workplace productivity assessment in routine evaluation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Keywords: Work productivity; Work disability; Absenteeism; Rheumatoid arthritis

Citation: Amaro J, Oliveira M, Pinho P, Aguiar F, Madureira P, et al. (2018) Work Productivity and Activity Impairment in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient. Occup Med Health Aff 6: 280. Doi: 10.4172/2329-6879.1000280

Copyright: © 2018 Amaro J, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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