Health Qual Life Out
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Health Qual Life Out · Mar 2012
Impact of self-rated osteoarthritis severity in an employed population: cross-sectional analysis of data from the national health and wellness survey.
Although osteoarthritis (OA) often affects older persons, it has a profound effect on individuals actively employed. Despite reports of reduced productivity among workers with OA, data are limited regarding the impact of OA among workers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of self-rated OA severity on quality of life, healthcare resource utilization, productivity and costs in an employed population relative to employed individuals without OA. ⋯ Workers with OA were characterized by significant disease and economic burdens relative to workers without OA that substantially increased with greater self-rated OA severity. Greater levels of OA severity were associated with reductions in quality of life and productivity, and increases in healthcare resource utilization and costs.