RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Disability in Fibromyalgia Associates with Symptom Severity and Occupation Characteristics
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP jrheum.151041
DO 10.3899/jrheum.151041
A1 Mary-Ann Fitzcharles
A1 Peter A.  Ste-Marie
A1 Emmanouil Rampakakis
A1 John S.  Sampalis
A1 Yoram Shir
YR 2016
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2016/03/09/jrheum.151041.abstract
AB Objective It is intuitive that disability caused by illness should be reflected in illness severity. Because disability rates for fibromyalgia (FM) are high in the developed world, we have examined disease and work characteristics for patients with FM who were working, unemployed, or receiving disability payments for disability as a result of FM. Methods Of the 248 participants in a tertiary care cohort study of patients with FM, 90 were employed, 81 were not employed and not receiving disability payments, and 77 were not working and currently receiving disability payments awarded for disability caused by FM. Demographic, occupation, and disease characteristics were compared among the groups. Results The prevalence of disability caused by FM was 30.8%. There were no demographic differences among the working, unemployed, or disabled patients. With the exception of measures for anxiety and depression, all measurements for disease severity differed significantly among the groups, with greater severity reported for the disabled group, which used more medications and participated less in physical activity. Disabled patients were more likely previously employed in manual professions or the service industry, whereas employed patients were more commonly working in non-manual jobs that included clerical, managerial, or professional occupations (p = 0.005). Conclusion The one-third rate of disability for this Canadian cohort of patients with FM is in line with other reports from the western world. Associations of disability compensation were observed for subjective report of symptom severity, increased use of medications, and previous employment in more physically demanding jobs.