Race-Ethnicity, Education, and Employment After Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

The objective of this article was to identify the relationship between race-ethnicity and employment after spinal cord injury (SCI), while evaluating interrelationships with gender, injury severity, and education. The authors used a cohort design using the most current status from a post-injury interview from the National SCI Statistical Center. Participants included 14,454 adults ages 18 to 64, at least 1 year post-injury, not currently students or homemakers, and with residual impairment. Primary outcome was self-reported gainful employment. A total of 26.8% were working, and Caucasians were most likely to work followed by Hispanics and African Americans. Education and injury severity were strong predictors of working but did not attenuate the relationship between race and working. African American women were more likely to work than African American men, but this relationship was not significant for other race groups. Further research is needed to identify modifiable risk factors that can decrease the gap in post-injury employment between African Americans and other races.

Return to work after spinal cord injury: factors related to time to first job

“…First, having the opportunity to return to pre-injury employer and employment were associated with almost 3 years (earlier) time difference with those who did not have this opportunity. This is similar to previous studies 6,9 that also found this path to work faster and therefore the recommendation that every effort be made by the rehabilitation team to work towards this goal if it is feasible. If this is not possible, the interval of time to work after SCI may be considerably longer.…”

“…This is in agreement with the conclusion and recommendations of Krause et al, 6,9 whereby the focus should be on, how long is the window open for returning to the pre-injury employer or utilizing the pre-injury skills. Given the nature, longevity and compensation scheme of a particular job skill or occupation, allowing an individual time to adjust to his/her SCI as is the current practice may inadvertently contribute to closing the window of opportunity for a relatively speedy time to work.…”

“…Krause,9 in a recent study, found that time to first employment averaged 4.8 years; however, time to first full-time employment had a longer mean of 6.3 years. In this study, we did not investigate time to first full-time job; however, majority (72.9%) of those who returned to employment, returned to full-time employment.…”

“…The finding that having less years in education and being older at the time of injury were associated with longer time to return to work was not unexpected, in that these characteristics have been consistently shown to even affect the likelihood of ever returning to work in the first place. [13][14][15] Studies that looked into time to return also showed that these factors were negatively related to time 6,9 and the need for rehabilitation professionals to either look into further education or training or other possible measures to expedite work resettlement.…”

“…A shorter time until employment was predicted by higher levels of education, fewer needs for assistance, having used a computer in pre-injury work and driving a modified vehicle. 8 Krause 9 in a study involving participants with a minimum of 15 years after injury found an average of 4.8 years to first post-injury job and 6.3 years until their first full-time job, and the fast track to employment was defined by either returning to the pre-injury job or having worked at a professional job pre-injury. In Malaysia, barriers experienced by people with disabilities, especially with regard to access issues and ineffective enforcement of prodisability legislations, might potentially interfere with work resettlement.…”