title: Anticipated significant work limitation in primary care consulters with osteoarthritis: a prospective cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the prevalence of expected work limitations (EWL) prior to future retirement age in osteoarthritis consulters, and the associated health, sociodemographic and workplace factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  General practices in Staffordshire, England.
  
  
  METHODS
  297 working adults aged 50-65, who had consulted primary care for osteoarthritis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  EWL was defined using a single question, "Do you think joint pain will limit your ability to work before you reach 69 years old?"
  
  
  RESULTS
  51 (17.2%) indicated that joint pain would not limit their ability to work until 69, 79 (26.6%) indicated EWL and 167 (56.2%) did not know if joint pain would limit work before 69. In bivariate analysis, physical function (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.91 to 0.96), depression (4.51; 1.81 to 11.3), cognitive symptom (3.84; 1.81 to 8.18), current smoker (2.75; 1.02 to 7.38), age (0.69; 0.58 to 0.82), physically demanding job (3.18; 1.50 to 6.72), no opportunities to retrain (3.01; 1.29 to 7.05) and work dissatisfaction (3.69; 1.43 to 9.49) were associated with EWL. The final multivariate model included physical function and age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Only one in five osteoarthritis consulters expected that joint pain would not limit their work participation before 69 years of age. Given the expectation for people to work until they are older, the results highlight the increasing need for clinicians to include work participation in their consultation and implement strategies to address work loss/limitation. Targeting pain-related functional limitation and effective communication with employers to manage workplace issues could reduce EWL.
authors.affiliation: Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre, Primary Care Sciences, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wilkie
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Phillipson
authors.affiliation: Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre, Primary Care Sciences, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Elaine M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.affiliation: Center for Disability Research, Liberty Mutual Research Institute, Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pransky
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation
keywords: Epidemiology; Occupational & Industrial Medicine; Primary Care; Rheumatology