Prevention of Arthritis-Related Work Disability

Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Trial

Official title:

Prevention of Arthritis-Related Work Disability: A Trial of Job Retention Services Provided to Employed Persons With Arthritis

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00000416
• Other study ID #: P60AR020613
• Secondary ID: P60AR020613NIAMS
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: November 3, 1999
• Last updated: July 24, 2017
• Start date: September 1997
• Est. completion date: August 2001

Study information

• Verified date: July 2017
• Source: Boston University Charles River Campus
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

People with rheumatic disorders (arthritis) often have trouble keeping their jobs. This study will look at whether vocational rehabilitation (VR) will improve the ability of employed people with arthritis to keep their jobs. Job retention VR services target key factors that increase the risk of job loss. They aim to modify jobs to reduce barriers caused by functional limitations and disease symptoms, future career planning, and establish a partnership with a VR counselor for ongoing help.

We will conduct the study among patients with rheumatic disorders recruited in eastern Massachusetts. We will give 120 study participants job retention services provided by VR counselors. We will give another 120 participants literature about employment- related resources. We will compare the outcomes of the two groups to evaluate the usefulness of job retention services in preventing job loss in people with rheumatic disorders.

Description:

Job loss commonly occurs among people with rheumatic disorders. This study will determine whether vocational rehabilitation (VR) provided to employed people with rheumatic disorders will improve their ability to remain employed. VR is applied primarily to people who have already lost their jobs. However, using job retention VR services may prevent, or delay, the onset of employment work loss among people with rheumatic disorders. Job retention VR services target important employment-loss risk factors. They do so by modifying jobs to reduce barriers posed by functional limitations and symptoms, promoting future career planning, and establishing an alliance with a VR counselor for ongoing assistance.

The study is a randomized, controlled trial conducted among patients with rheumatic disorders recruited from the practices of rheumatologists in eastern Massachusetts.

We will randomly assign 120 study participants to receive job-retention services provided by VR counselors and 120 participants (controls) to receive literature about employment-related resources. We will assess intermediate outcome variables (self-efficacy, work limitations, and job accommodation-seeking behaviors) and the endpoint outcome variable, work instability (a measure that includes employment loss), immediately prior to the interventions and at 6-month intervals over a 24-month period after the interventions are carried out. We will compare the outcomes of the two groups to evaluate the usefulness of job retention services in forestalling work instability in this population.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 242
• Est. completion date: August 2001
• Est. primary completion date: August 2001
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must currently be employed full or part time

• Must live in selected communities in eastern Massachusetts

Exclusion Criteria:

• Plans to move from area

• Plans to have joint replacement surgery in next 6 months

• Plans to retire or go on disability within next 2 years

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Ankylosing Spondylitis
• Arthritis
• Arthritis, Rheumatoid
• Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic
• Osteoarthritis
• Osteoarthritis, Knee
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Spondylitis
• Spondylitis, Ankylosing
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Intervention

Other:
• Rehabilitation counseling
Provided in 2 in-person meetings and in follow-up phone calls

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Boston University School of Medicine	Boston	Massachusetts

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Boston University Charles River Campus	Boston University Medical Campus, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (6)

Allaire SH, Li W, LaValley MP. Reduction of job loss in persons with rheumatic diseases receiving vocational rehabilitation: a randomized controlled trial. Arthritis Rheum. 2003 Nov;48(11):3212-8. — View Citation

Allaire SH, Li W, LaValley, M. Can job retention vocational rehabilitation services reduce work disability among employed persons with rheumatic diseases? Arthritis Rheum 44 (supplement):S813, 2001.

Allaire SH, Li W, LaValley,M: Work Problems reported by employed persons with reheumatic diseases and their association with work satisfaction. Arthritis Rheumatic 43:S128,2000

Allaire SH, Niu J, Lavalley MP. Employment and Satisfaction Outcomes From a Job Retention Intervention Delivered to Persons with Chronic Diseases. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin 48(2):100-109, 2005

Allaire SH. Update on work disability in rheumatic diseases. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2001 Mar;13(2):93-8. Review. — View Citation

de Buck PD, Schoones JW, Allaire SH, Vliet Vlieland TP. Vocational rehabilitation in patients with chronic rheumatic diseases: a systematic literature review. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2002 Dec;32(3):196-203. Review. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	job losses	Periods of work cessation of at least 6 months.	every 6 months for up to 42 months
Secondary	limitation in ability to work	Extent of on the job limitation due to health condition as measured by the Work Limitations Questionnaire.	every 6 months for up to 42 months