Inability to Work Fulltime and the Association with Paid Employment One Year After the Work Disability Assessment: A...

Area of Science:

• Occupational medicine
• Social security research
• Rehabilitation science

Background:

• Partial disability benefits are granted to individuals with residual work capacity.
• Assessing the inability to work fulltime is crucial for determining benefit levels and support.
• Understanding factors influencing employment post-assessment is vital for effective rehabilitation and social integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between the inability to work fulltime and obtaining paid employment one year after a Dutch work disability benefit assessment.
• To explore if this association differs based on the applicant's employment status at the time of assessment.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal register-based cohort study involving 8,300 work disability applicants granted partial benefits.
• Multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to examine the relationship between inability to work fulltime and subsequent paid employment.
• Analyses were conducted separately for applicants who were working and not working at the time of their disability assessment.

Main Results:

• Overall, inability to work fulltime showed limited association with paid employment one year later, irrespective of initial working status.
• For working applicants, inability to work fulltime was positively associated with employment for those with musculoskeletal disease but negatively for cancer patients.
• Among non-working applicants, inability to work fulltime was negatively associated with employment for individuals with respiratory disease or multimorbidity.

Conclusions:

• The inability to work fulltime has a generally weak association with securing paid employment one year post-disability assessment.
• Specific medical conditions, such as musculoskeletal diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, and multimorbidity, modify the relationship between inability to work fulltime and future employment.
• These findings highlight the need for nuanced, condition-specific support strategies for disability benefit applicants aiming to re-enter the workforce.