Employment and Multiple Sclerosis - A Qualitative and Quantitative Approach.

Multiple sclerosis apparently takes a significant toll on employment for people living with MS. The high levels of unemployment have been attributed to a number of variables including cognitive and physical changes associated with MS. To better understand the contribution of various variables to unemployment, we began with a qualitative (phenomenological) approach to collect data from 12 people with MS who are either working or have recently worked. Interviews were conducted longitudinally for up to four years. Themes emerged with respect to the value of work, the impact of cognitive and fatigue changes, and accommodations to address social and physical barriers. Qualitative results were used to build a model to examine quantitative survey data collected from 785 respondents. “Participation” served as an outcome and employment is one proxy for participation. The simultaneous contribution of depression, pain, fatigue, cognitive changes, EDDS score, and other variables to the outcome variables are considered.