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Occupational Medicine 1981;31:134-138
© 1981 Society of Occupational Medicine

research-article

Multiple Sclerosis and the Prospects for Employment*

J.N. MITCHELL0

RAF Hospital, Nocton Hall Noclon

A survey of 197 notifications of multiple sclerosis in Post Office employees, between 1972 and 1979, showed that the incidence rate for males was 2.9 and for females was 8.2 per 100 000 person-years. The distribution of the disease followed no geographical pattern, but there was suggestive evidence of a higher rate in the upper socioeconomic groups. Forty per cent had retired on medical grounds, and disability severe enough to cause retirement had developed more rapidly when the disease had been diagnosed later on in life. The availability of sedentary work was as important as the amount of sickness absence in determining prospects for continued employment, and there was a more than even chance of remaining at work for as long as 15 or more years after diagnosis. Only one-third were registered as disabled persons; nearly half attended hospital for regular review, and of these, the majority were still employed. The study has shown that the prognosis is not as gloomy as is still widely believed.

0Requests for reprints should be addressed to: Wing Commander J. N. Mitchell, Principal Medical Officer's Department, HQ RAF Support Command, RAF Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.


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