Perceptions of Workplace Difficulties by Persons with Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic progressive disease which is often diagnosed during a professionally active part of life. The course of disease is unpredictable and there may pass many years before a person with multiple sclerosis experiences significant disability. In time, worsening of the symptoms makes the person change his or her job or stop working altogether. The aim of the study was to determine how people with multiple sclerosis perceive difficulty of their work. The study included 108 subjects with multiple sclerosis, men and women aged 18-65 years, and was conducted in September and October 2013 in Novi Sad, in a multiple sclerosis association. The Multiple Sclerosis Work Difficulties Questionnaire – MSWDQ (Honan et al., 2011) was used with the author’s permission. The questionnaire consists of 12 subscales with items describing problems which people with MS may face at work (cognitive difficulties, mobility problems, fatigue, pain etc.). Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software; descriptive statistical methods (arithmetic mean, median, range, standard deviation) and Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests were used. The results showed statistical significance (p<0,05) for all the subscales, except Worry about Financial Security. Cognitive and mobility problems were perceived as the main difficulties in performing work tasks.