Effectof Rheumatoid Arthritis on Occupational Performance
Effectof Rheumatoid Arthritis on Occupational Performance
Rheumatoidarthritis refers to a chronic inflammatory health condition thatmainly affects the joints. It results from an autoimmune that leadsto erosion and deformation of the joints (Chaudhari, 2008). The painand swelling of the joints are the key problematic issues that reducethe occupational performance of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Themost performance skill that is impacted is the movement or mobilityof the sick employee. Pain that patients with rheumatoid arthritisfeel in the joints reduces their ability to move around theworkstation or move their arms to pick equipments. Interruptedperformance patterns among the patients with rheumatoid arthritis areassociated with abbreviation of work hours and sick absence.According to Chaudhari (2008) about 22 % of the rheumatoid arthritispatients who experience a loss in productivity take about 5.2 hoursaway from the workstation each week. These patients are able to workwhen pain reduces, and stop working when pain returns. These patientsstop working completely about 13 years following the onset of thesigns and symptoms.
Theimpact of rheumatoid arthritis on performance depends on the contextand activity demands. For example, the performance of employees whosenature of work demands that they must move from one point to anotheris affected more that those who require a limited movement. A studyconducted by Kessler, Maclean, Petukhova, Short & Stang (2008)indicated that patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis need toincrease their efforts in order maintain performance. These patientsneed a lot of perseverance in order to overcome the pain and engagein some productive work.
Someof the client factors that influence occupational performance includethe experience of self and the ability to cope with the stressfulsituation that is caused by the disease (Chaudhari, 2008). Forexample, patients who are able to cope can take longer than theaverage 13 years that ordinary patients take in productive work.
Inconclusion, a decline in occupational performance of rheumatoidarthritis patients can be attributed to pain and swelling in thejoints. This increases the length of time that they spend away fromwork, thus reducing their overall performance.
References
Chaudhari,P. (2008). The impact of rheumatoid arthritis and biologics onemployers and payers. BiotechnologyHealth,5 (2), 37-44. Retrieved May 5, 2016, fromhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2706169/
Kessler,R., Maclean, J., Petukhova, M., Short, L. & Stang, P. (2008). Theeffects of rheumatoid arthritis. On labor force participation, workperformance, and health care costs in two workplace samples. Journalof Occupational and Environmental Medicine,50 (1), 88-98. Retrieved May 5, 2016, fromhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18188086#