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This investigation extends current understanding of the employment impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) by evaluating the relationship between employment status and residential accessibility. The objective of this study was to explore the extent to which housing accessibility variables add to the prediction of employment status among a large sample of Americans with MS. Findings are reported in terms of descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and logistic regression. The logistic regression analysis was completed to determine the extent to which the independent variables (demographic, clinical, functional, and housing variables) contributed to the overall prediction model for the employment status of adults with MS. The combined variables explained approximately 39% of the variance in employment status. In addition to educational attainment, age, years since diagnosis, physical disability, cognitive impairment, and mobility limitations, several housing accessibility variables contributed to the prediction of employment status, including score on the Home Functioning Scale, having needed accessibility features, needing assistance in the home, and being financially limited in making needed renovations. The findings emphasize the importance of including housing accessibility assessment in the vocational rehabilitation services provided to adults with MS.
The rate of unemployment among people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is consistently found to be much higher than that seen in the general population. Although over 90% of Americans diagnosed with MS have employment histories and most were working at the time of their diagnosis, only an estimated 20% to 30% of Americans with MS are employed 15 years after diagnosis (Fraser, Clemmons, & Bennett, 2002; Roessler, Neath, McMahon, & Rumrill, 2007). Data from recent large population-based studies support these estimates, indicating that over 55% of working-aged Americans with MS are not engaged in the labor force (Julian, Vella, Vollmer, Hadjimichael, & Mohr, 2008; Minden et al., 2006).
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system that affects over 400,000 people in the United States, or approximately 1 in 750 Americans at any one time (Fraser, Kraft, Ehde, & Johnson, 2006; National Multiple Sclerosis Society [NMSS], 2012). Typically diagnosed among adults between the ages of 20 and 40 years, MS is one of the most commonly diagnosed neurological conditions and the leading non-traumatic cause of nervous system disabilities in young adults (Myhr, 2008). The clinical course...