Article

Cross-sectional survey. OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers and
facilitators to employment after spinal cord injury (SCI) and their relationship
with labor force participation. METHODS: Participants were initially identified
through specialty hospitals in the Midwest and Southeastern United States of
America. 781 adults with traumatic SCI, at least 1 year post-injury, and between
the ages of 18-64, participated. A 30-item instrument on barriers and
facilitators to employment was administered. Analyses included exploratory factor
analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and comparisons of scores as a
function of employment status. RESULTS: EFA indicated six primary themes (root
mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.040), including: (a) resources, (b)
health status, (c) disability considerations, (d) lack of importance, (e)
disincentives and (f) motivation. CFA indicated an acceptable fit (RMSEA=0.078).
Univariate analyses indicated each item and factor was significantly different as
a function of labor force participation. After controlling for biographical and
injury factors, multinomial logistic regression indicated three factors
significantly differentiated those never employed, those currently unemployed but
had worked since injury and those currently employed. Those employed reported
higher scores for resources and motivation and lower scores for lack of
importance. CONCLUSIONS: Barriers and facilitators were consistently related to
labor force participation, with facilitators more highly related to labor force
participation than barriers. Although loss of financial and medical benefits
(disincentives) as well as health status have been reported as barriers to
employment, they were not as highly correlated with labor force participation as
were other factors.

Langue : ANGLAIS