Work Ability and Quality of Life in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: Reduced work participation has social implications (sickness absence, economic impact) and consequences for the individual patient (impoverishment, depression, limited social interaction). As patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more likely to experience job loss and/or at-work productivity loss and are at higher risk of sickness absence and, ultimately, permanent work productivity, consideration should be given to the association between work productivity or partial work capacity and quality of life (QoL). The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between QoL and the risk of work disability, as well as to estimate the risk of a future event and identify factors affecting the risk of work disability in RA inpatients.

Material And Methods: This cross-sectional study included 142 inpatients (65 male) aged 47 (38-58) years, who met the established criteria for a diagnosis of RA and treatment with biologic drugs. Only standardized tools were used to examine the patients: WHOQOL-BREF, MFIS and AS-WIS.

Results: An analysis of the QoL scores on the WHOQOL-BREF demonstrated that the patients' QoL was lowest in the physical health domain and highest in the social relationships domain. The median WHOQOL-BREF total score in the group studied was 62.8, which indicates a moderate QoL. The median total score for the risk of work disability (AS-WIS) was 10.1, which indicates that the level of risk of work disability in the patients was higher than the average level reported in the literature. A multivariate analysis showed that the following were significant independent determinants of a higher risk of work disability: low QoL in the WHOQOL-BREF physical health (β = 0.961; = 0.029) and psychological health (β = 1.752; = 0.002) domains, being in a relationship (β = 0.043; = 0.005) and the use of opioids for pain (β = 3.054; = 0.012).

Conclusions: RA patients presented with moderate QoL, moderate fatigue (MFIS) and high risk of disability (AS-WIS). There is an association between a high risk of work disability and lower QoL, especially in the physical and psychological health domains. The lower the QoL in those domains, the higher the risk of work disability. The identification of factors increasing the risk of work disability will help in planning tailored interventions to improve at-work productivity loss and thus prevent work disability.