Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026
Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
Predictors of functional disability in disability welfare claimants
Fiona Purdie1, Stephen Kellett, Darren Bickerstaffe
1Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
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 cross-sectional design in a sample of claimants (n = 4,119) of health-related welfare, unemployed due to mental or physical health problems. Participants provided socio-demographic information and completed validated measures of psychological distress, self-efficacy and disability. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses then tested which psychological and socio-demographic 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 self-efficacy were additional factors.
Conclusion:
Results are discussed in terms of biopsychosocial formulations of health-related unemployment, the potential mechanisms by which psychological distress can influence disability, the methodological limitations of cross sectional regression analyses and the implications for condition-specific occupational rehabilitation.
