Christine Webb, Your Health and Fitness
Arthritis affects 46 million Americans, and takes a major toll on the workplace.
Many people may face changing hours, responsibilities, and even termination.
A new study tracked people with osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis for more than four years.
During that time, more than half of the patients remained employed, but other work changes were common:
- 45 percent reduced their work hours due to arthritis
- 52 percent switched their type of work
- 18 percent weren't able to seek and accept promotions and job transfers
- 41 percent weren't able to take on additional responsibilities.
In addition, many of the participants used vacation time and missed work to deal with their arthritis.
Researchers report by studying these changes, they hope to identify certain factors that allow people to remain employed longer, as well as types of transitions that signal problems that need to be addressed with early intervention and treatment.
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