Productivity at work and quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to determine which combination of personal, disease-related and environmental factors is best associated with at-work productivity loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to determine whether at-work productivity loss is associated with the quality of life for these patients.


METHODS
This study is based on cross-sectional data. Patients completed a questionnaire with personal, disease-related and environmental factors (related to the work environment), and clinical characteristics were obtained from patient medical records. At-work productivity loss was measured with the Work Limitations Questionnaire, and quality of life with the RAND 36. Using linear regression analyses, a multivariate model was built containing the combination of factors best associated with at-work productivity loss. This model was cross-validated internally. We furthermore determined whether at-work productivity loss was associated with quality of life using linear regression analyses.


RESULTS
We found that at-work productivity loss was associated with workers who had poorer mental health, more physical role limitations, were ever treated with a biological therapeutic medication, were not satisfied with their work, and had more work instability (R(2) = 0.50 and R(2) following cross-validation was 0.32). We found that at-work productivity loss was negatively associated with health-related quality of life, especially with dimensions of mental health, physical role limitations, and pain.


CONCLUSIONS
We found that at-work productivity loss was associated with personal, work-related, and clinical factors. Although our study results should be interpreted with caution, they provide insight into patients with RA who are at risk for at-work productivity loss.
Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. m.vanvilsteren@vumc.nl.|Body@Work, Research Center Physical Activity, TNO-VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. m.vanvilsteren@vumc.nl.
Myrthe
M
van Vilsteren
Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. crl.boot@vumc.nl.|Body@Work, Research Center Physical Activity, TNO-VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. crl.boot@vumc.nl.
Cecile R L
CR
Boot
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. d.knol@vumc.nl.
Dirk L
DL
Knol
Jan van Breemen Research Institute Reade, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. d.v.schaardenburg@reade.nl.
Dirkjan
D
van Schaardenburg
Department of Rheumatology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. ae.voskuyl@vumc.nl.
Alexandre E
AE
Voskuyl
Body@Work, Research Center Physical Activity, TNO-VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. romy.steenbeek@tno.nl.|TNO Work, Health and Care, Leiden, The Netherlands. romy.steenbeek@tno.nl.
Romy
R
Steenbeek
Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. h.anema@vumc.nl.|Body@Work, Research Center Physical Activity, TNO-VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. h.anema@vumc.nl.|Research Center for Insurance Medicine AMC-UMCG-UWV-VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. h.anema@vumc.nl.
Johannes R
JR
Anema
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004526:Efficiency / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000066477:Work Performance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology*