Work Adjustments by Types of Occupations Amongst People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Survey Study.
Alejandra Machado, Chantelle Murley, Jessica Dervish and 2 others
PMID 37923959WHAT IT FOUND
Most employed people with MS reported no need for work adjustments (69.5%), despite invisible limiting symptoms.
Adjustments were linked to disclosure, higher MS severity and invisible symptoms, and differed by occupation.
Key findings
01Most employed people with MS reported not needing work adjustments (69.5%), while 15.1% had adjustments, 5.2% had adjustments but not enough, and 9.8% had no adjustments but needed them.
02Having or needing work adjustments was associated with progressive MS, higher EDSS scores, invisible limiting symptoms and disclosure to employer.
03Opportunities to influence work conditions followed a gradient: managers reported the most, office workers next, and manual workers the least for working hours, remote work, task modification, postponing tasks and breaks.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This was a one-time survey, so it cannot show that work adjustments caused continued employment or that not having adjustments caused problems. Only 4412 of 8458 invited people answered (52%), and 3313 of those were categorised as employed (75.1%); main tables analysed 3133. The study did not include information from people who did not answer, so their views are unknown. Most participants had relapsing-remitting MS (93.9%) and low or mild EDSS scores (24.2% and 44.7%), so it says less about people with more advanced MS. Work adjustment answers were self-reported, and having an adjustment did not necessarily mean the person found it useful. Some EDSS values were set to missing (n = 323 and n = 12), and moderate and severe EDSS groups were collapsed because of small sample sizes. Occupational groups were broad, and managers' level of seniority was unknown.
Declared interests
The supplied text names Försäkringskassan and Karolinska Institute as funders.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 69.5% “no need” response as evidence that workplace adjustments are unnecessary. This was a one-time survey, and adjustments were linked to disclosure, invisible symptoms and higher MS severity.