Idiosyncrasy in a Spanish-speaking developing country and Employment: study of general population and Multiple Sclerosis
Sandra Vanotti1, Maria Sol Román1, Lara Bardoneschi1, Michael Jaworski2, Loana De Los Santos1, Florencia Daniele1, Maria Laura Saladino1, Ralph Benedict3, Fernando Caceres1
1Multiple Sclerosis UNIT, INERE - Institute of Restorative Neurosciences, 2University of Buffalo, 3University At Buffalo
Objective:

Assess differences in the association of cognitive and clinical variables with work status between people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) and healthy controls (HCs) and study the association between work-related difficulties - negative work events (NWE) and work hours per week - and work status in PwMS and HCs through the BVMS.

 

Background:

PwMS are vulnerable to diverse unfavorable work experiences, from reduced hours to unemployment.

Design/Methods:

We enrolled 80 PwMS & 80 HCs for a single examination that included Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMTR), & Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX). We used the Buffalo Vocational Monitoring Survey (BVMS) to investigate work status and work-related difficulties. Work status was classified into: Stable, Challenged or Loss. Work-related difficulties includes absenteeism, income, hours worked per week, and NWEs (verbal reprimands, demotions, etc.). Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and Pearson correlations were performed.

Results:

PwMS and HCs were matched on demographics. PwMS (EDSS: 3.18±2.44; disease duration: 13.23±9.14), were impaired on SDMT: 45.16±14.56, CVLT: 48.71±12.71, BVMTR: 21.30±12.65, and DEX: 21.36±12.04. Work status (PwMS vs. HCs): Stable: 51.2% vs. 90%, Challenged: 25% vs. 6.2%, & Loss: 23.8% vs. 3.8%.

PwMS: EFA (KMO 0.664, Bartlett 0.000), work status (0.779), SDMT (0.841), CVLT (0.821), and BVMTR (0.560) (α=.590) loaded into the 1° factor, and work status (0.021), DEX (0.891) and depression (0.897) (α=.765) into the 2° factor. HCs: EFA (KMO 0.572, Bartlett 0.000) work status (0.182), SDMT (0.790), CVLT (0.678) and BVMTR (0.751) (α .593) loaded into the 1° factor, and work status (-0.431), DEX (0.808) and depression (0.856) (α=.459) into the 2° factor.

In both groups, work status was associated with NWEs (PwMS: r=.864; p=.000, HCs: r=-.758; p=.000) and work hours per week (PwMS: r=.778;p=.000, HCs: r=.393; p=.000).

Conclusions:

Processing speed and memory are associated with worse work status in PwMS, and depression and impaired executive functioning in HCs.

10.1212/WNL.0000000000202148