Donate Now
  • Research Completed
How much extra time do people with certain systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) lose from paid and unpaid work, and what are the costs?
View in English
Voir en francais
Other-Types-of-Arthritis-8.5-1

Scientific Study Title:

Excess Productivity Costs of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic Sclerosis, and Sjogren’s Syndrome: A General Population-Based Study

Start Date: 

  • July 2015

End Date:

  • December 2016

Research Category

Tags

Natalie McCormick
Affiliate Scientist, Clinical Epidemiology, MSc, PhD
J. Antonio Aviña-Zubieta
Senior Scientist, Rheumatology, MD, MSc, PhD, FRCP
Carlo Marra
Research Scientist of Pharmacoepidemiology, BSc (Pharm), PharmD PhD

Ready to Participate?

Life-changing arthritis research is only possible with your help!

Participate Now

Methodology

Execution of Research

Systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) are a group of inflammatory arthritis disorders that can cause fatigue, pain, and organ damage. They tend to strike females during their peak parenting and working years. Though SARDs can limit patients’ ability to work, the full cost impact is unclear. Most studies only included costs for time missed from paid work, and not work time missed by homemakers, students, and retired people. To better understand these costs, we surveyed a sample of BC residents about their paid and unpaid work (i.e. cooking, cleaning, yard work, home repairs, looking after children, volunteering). Some had been diagnosed with a SARD, but others were chosen because they did not have a SARD. We compared the survey responses from each group to determine the ‘extra’ lost-work costs from SARDs.

Who is involved?

Involvement

This study was led by Natalie McCormick as part of her Ph.D. thesis. A total of five researchers participated in the study. Members of Arthritis Research Canada’s SARD Consumer Advisory Committee helped design the study and test the survey. 671 BC residents completed the survey: 296 with SARDs and 375 without SARDs.

Findings & Next Steps

We focussed on three systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs): systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis/scleroderma, and Sjogren’s syndrome. Employed persons with a SARD did not miss any more work than employed persons without a SARD. However, it was harder for them to perform their paid and unpaid work. Persons with SARDs were also more likely to be work disabled (not employed at all, for health reasons). The extra lost-work costs of SARDs ranged from $3,582 to $4,494 per-person each year. This study uncovered the ‘hidden’ lost-work costs of SARDs. Future studies should look at how flexible hours or job retraining may help reduce these costs for SARD patients and society.

Related Publications

McCormick N, Marra CA, Sadatsafavi M, Kopec JA, Aviña-Zubieta JA. Excess Productivity Costs of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic Sclerosis, and Sjogren’s Syndrome: A General Population-Based Study. Arthritis Care & Research. doi: 10.1002/acr.23573. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29648677

McCormick N, Reimer K, Famouri A, Marra CA, Aviña-Zubieta JA. Filling the gaps in SARDs research: collection and linkage of administrative health data and self-reported survey data for a general population-based cohort of individuals with and without diagnoses of systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease (SARDs) from British Columbia, Canada. BMJ Open. 2017 Jun 21;7(6):e013977. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28637725

Further studies related to this work:

McCormick N, Marra CA, Sadatsafavi M, Aviña-Zubieta JA. Incremental direct medical costs of systemic lupus erythematosus patients in the years preceding diagnosis: a general population-based study. Lupus. 2018 Jul;27(8):1247-1258. doi: 10.1177/0961203318768882. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29665755

Related Research

arc_placeholder_new

Development of a new life expectancy and quality of life prediction model for Canadians

Read More
arc_placeholder_new

Improving gout care: Shared access to electronic medical records

Read More
Scleroderma-Lung-Disease_PLS_Feature-Image

Earlier Use of Mycophenolate Mofetil in Scleroderma: Clinical Trial

Read More
WFH-Productivity-Covid_PLS-Image

Working from home and insights gained during COVID-19

Read More
RA-Early-Care

How Well Are We Treating Early Rheumatoid Arthritis in Canada?

Read More
arc_placeholder_new

Understanding Rheumatoid Arthritis Care in British Columbia and Alberta

Read More