Predictors of Functional Disability in Disability

Authors: Fiona Purdie Stephen Kellett Darren Bickerstaffe

Publish Date: 2012/04/24

Volume: 22, Issue: 4, Pages: 447-455

PDF Link

Abstract

Background People unemployed and claiming welfare due to poor health are by definition functionally disabled Understanding the factors associated with such disability is crucial in the development of biopsychosocial formulations and associated occupational rehabilitation Method A crosssectional design in a sample of claimants n = 4119 of healthrelated welfare unemployed due to mental or physical health problems Participants provided sociodemographic information and completed validated measures of psychological distress selfefficacy and disability Hierarchical multiple regression analyses then tested which psychological and sociodemographic factors were associated with disability Results Despite equal rates of functional disability across health condition groups differing variables were associated with disability for mental and physical health conditions Psychological distress was the strongest predictor of disability across all health conditions For physical conditions lack of previous employment was the only additional variable associated with current disability and for mental health conditions age and selfefficacy were additional factors Conclusion Results are discussed in terms of biopsychosocial formulations of healthrelated unemployment the potential mechanisms by which psychological distress can influence disability the methodological limitations of cross sectional regression analyses and the implications for conditionspecific occupational rehabilitation

Keywords: