Prevalence and causes of work disability among working-age U.S. adults, 2011-2013, NHIS.
Kristina A Theis, Douglas W Roblin, Charles G Helmick and 1 others
PMID 28476583WHAT IT FOUND
10.4% of working-age U.S. adults reported work disability.
Back or neck problems, depression, anxiety or emotional problems, and arthritis were the most common causes, even among people with other chronic conditions.
Key findings
0120.1 million working-age U.S. adults, 10.4% of that population, reported work disability.
02The most common reported causes were back or neck problems (30.3%), depression/anxiety/emotional problems (21.0%), and arthritis/rheumatism (18.6%).
03Among adults with a chronic condition and work disability, at least one musculoskeletal condition was among the top 3 reported causes for every condition except cancer in 18-44 year old women and stroke in 45-64 year old men.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
All information was self-reported, so the study captures what people said about work limitation and causes, not clinician-confirmed diagnoses or measured function. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that a condition caused work disability or that treating it would improve work outcomes. Respondents could report more than one cause and did not rank causes, so a single cause cannot be isolated for any person. The work disability question included current and long-term limitation, so estimates are not the same as permanent disability or federal benefit eligibility. The analysis did not categorically examine people with multiple chronic conditions, although many respondents reported more than one cause. The paper gives yearly NHIS sample sizes but not the total working-age analytic sample after combining years.
Declared interests
The authors reported no financial disclosures and no external funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating back or neck problems or arthritis will reduce work disability. The study reports what adults said caused their work limitations in a cross-sectional survey, not what happened after treatment.