Stiffness, fatigue, pain and difficulty in moving your joints: the consequences of rheumatoid arthritis are often underestimated in the workplace. However, as the French Congress of Rheumatology opens, the PRET study (Rheumatoid Arthritis and Work) shows that only 38% of people with rheumatoid arthritis benefit from an adaptation of their workstation.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a common pathology. Usually diagnosed in patients between the ages of 40 and 60, it progresses slowly and by flare, leading, if left untreated, to the destruction of the joints.
“This pathology requires workstation adjustments to avoid worsening the symptoms but also, and this is very important, to allow the stabilization phases to continue” insists Dr Martine Giros, occupational physician in Paris.
However, the PRET study is final :
– 26% of patients believe that their needs in terms of fitting out their workstation are unsatisfied;
– 75% of inactive patients declare that they have definitively left the labor market because of their pathology;
– 49% of active patients report sick leave in the last 12 months;
– Almost 7 out of 10 patients looking for work attribute this situation to their illness.
Carried out under the aegis of a scientific committee, this study involved 144 doctors and 488 patients under the age of 60. It highlighted a real lack of information in occupational medicine on the pathology and its challenges, and a lack of knowledge of possible arrangements and financial aid that can support their implementation.
That is why Andar (National Association for the Defense of Rheumatoid Arthritis) will soon provide patients with a detailed information booklet on patients’ rights, assistance and procedures, the role of each interlocutor. “The objective of this booklet is to help patients make the right decisions throughout their professional career and to enable them to better communicate on this subject with their attending physician, their rheumatologist but also their occupational physician” explains the association.
More info at the toll free number: 0800 001 159
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