Disability worker profiles: examining work-related difficulties, mood, and coping strategies in workers with multiple sclerosis

While remaining at and returning to work are clearly complex issues in multiple sclerosis (MS), in which many aspects (physical, psychological and relational, as well as personal resources such as coping strategies) can play a key role, there is still room for potential interventions. This study aimed to identify and describe profiles of workers with MS (wwMS), considering specific work-related domains, namely, work-related difficulties, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and coping strategies. A cross-sectional online survey of wwMS was conducted in Italy. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using the Ward method followed by k-means cluster analysis. In total, 209 workers with MS were included in the analysis. We identified four profiles: profile 1 had low work difficulties, low depressive symptoms and mild anxiety, with a moderate tendency to use ‘problem focus’ and ‘positive attitude’ and a mild tendency to use ‘social support’ as coping strategies (n = 82, 39.2%); profile 2 had low-to-mild work difficulties, mild anxiety and low depressive symptoms, with a high tendency to use ‘positive attitude’ and ‘religion’, moderate use of ‘problem focus’ and ‘social support’, and mild use of ‘denial’ (n = 38, 18.7%); profile 3 had low-to-mild work difficulties, moderate anxiety and depressive symptoms, with a mild tendency to use ‘problem focus’, ‘positive attitude’, ‘religion’, ‘social support’ and ‘denial’ as coping strategies (n = 50, 23.9%); profile 4 had mild-to-moderate work difficulties, moderate anxiety and depressive symptoms, with a moderate tendency to use ‘problem focus’ and ‘positive attitude’, and a mild tendency to use ‘social support’ and ‘denial’ as coping strategies (n = 39, 18.7%). Identifying profiles of workers with a chronic and progressive disability such as MS may lead to the development of personalised interventions.