Disclosure Decisions of Workers Living with a Chronic Health Condition Causing Disability at Work: Are Decisions to Disclose to Co-workers and Supervisors Different?
Gemma Woticky, Arif Jetha, Emile Tompa and 1 others
PMID 39269512WHAT IT FOUND
Most Canadian workers with a disability disclosed their condition to colleagues.
Factors predicting disclosure included age, pain, health variability, job disruptions, accommodation use, and workplace perceptions, rather than the specific type of disability.
Key findings
01Only 25.2% of workers with a disability did not disclose to any colleagues, while 44.2% disclosed to both supervisors and co-workers.
02In multivariable analysis, the type of disability (physical, mental/cognitive, or both) was not a significant predictor of disclosure.
03Greater health variability and pain were associated with disclosure, as was the use of more accommodations and higher job disruptions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if disclosure causes better outcomes or if workers with better outcomes feel safer disclosing. The group that disclosed only to supervisors was very small (n=61), making findings for this specific pattern exploratory. Data was collected in 2018, before the widespread shift to hybrid and remote work, which may have altered disclosure dynamics. The study only recorded whether disclosure occurred, not the depth, content, or ongoing nature of the communication.
Declared interests
The paper does not list specific funding sources or conflicts of interest in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that workers with mental health or cognitive conditions are significantly less likely to disclose their disability than those with physical conditions. The multivariable analysis showed no significant difference in disclosure rates based on condition type, suggesting that factors like pain, job disruption, and workplace culture are stronger predictors.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →