RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The Impact of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus on Employment JF The Journal of Rheumatology JO J Rheumatol FD The Journal of Rheumatology SP jrheum.080586 DO 10.3899/jrheum.080586 A1 Robert Campbell, Jr A1 Glinda S. Cooper A1 Gary S. Gilkeson YR 2009 UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2009/09/30/jrheum.080586.abstract AB Objective Our primary objective was to examine work status (e.g., job loss, changes in amount worked) and predictors of job loss in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Recently diagnosed SLE patients were enrolled in the Carolina Lupus Study between 1997 and 1999; an age-, sex-, and state-matched control group selected through driver’s license registries for the 60-county study area was also enrolled. In 2001, a followup study of both groups was conducted (median 4 yrs since diagnosis). Work history data were obtained in an in-person interview at enrollment and a telephone interview at followup. Results Fifty-one patients (26%) and 26 controls (9%) (p < 0.0001) who were working the year before diagnosis (or for controls, a corresponding reference year) were no longer working at followup; 92% of patients compared with 40% of controls who were no longer working indicated that they had stopped working because of their health (p < 0.0001). College graduates were less likely to quit their jobs due to health compared to non-college graduates (adjusted OR = 0.27, 95% CI 0.09, 0.84). SLE patients with arthritis were 3 times more likely to have left their jobs due to health reasons compared to those who didn’t have arthritis (adjusted OR = 3.3, 95% CI 1.2, 8.8); an association was also seen with pleuritis (adjusted OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.1, 4.6). Conclusion The burden expressed as work cessation due to health, especially among lesser educated patients and those with arthritis or pleuritis, is significant even early in the disease process.