How does morning stiffness affect the working life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis?

This paper studies how patients with rheumatoid arthritis are affected by morning stiffness in their work.

Even with treatment advancements, morning stiffness remains a problem for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Many patients cannot work because of joint stiffness, pain and swelling, with this frequently occurring in the morning. The authors surveyed the impact of morning stiffness on working life. 

Patients of working age who had rheumatoid arthritis for 6 months or more and had morning stiffness on at least 3 mornings a week were included in the study. The patients were from 11 European countries and were interviewed over the telephone. They were asked about how morning stiffness affected their working ability.1,061 patients were interviewed, of which 534 were working, 224 were retired, and the rest were not in the workplace (unemployed or homemaker) .

Both longer duration and a greater severity of morning stiffness had a significant negative impact on life. There were also differences in results between countries. Overall, 70% of patients stated that they were less able to work as a result of morning stiffness.

Of 582 patients who worked or could be working, 33% reported no effect of morning stiffness on work, 29% were unable to work, and 28% had to reduce their working hours. Of 534 patients who worked, morning stiffness  affected work performance (47%), caused late arrival at work (33%) and caused patients to take sick leave in the past month (15%). Of 224 retired participants,  71% stopped working earlier than expected retirement age with 64% citing morning stiffness as a reason for stopping work early.                                                                                  

Rheumatoid arthritis related morning stiffness had a direct impact on working life in two-thirds of patients. This indicates that morning stiffness has a large societal cost and patients should be treated to allow for a normal working life.

The authors concluded that morning stiffness reduces the ability to work and contributes to early retirement.

The methods of selecting patients varied between the different countries.