Factors influencing employment among people with spinal cord injury in South Africa

PurposeThe unemployment rate post spinal cord injury (SCI) in South Africa is high with limited knowledge of environmental factors outside the health services, especially in an unevenly developed resource setting like South Africa, affecting the employment rate in people with SCI. Our purpose was to investigate factors associated with employment in people with SCI in South Africa.MethodsTwo hundred persons with SCI participated in a cross-sectional survey design. This study formed part of the International Spinal Cord Injury Community Survey. Subsections of the questionnaire responses were used as explanatory variables to predict employment after SCI using logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe response rate of the study was 54%. Of the 200 participants included, 61% reported being employed before SCI onset whereas only 25% reported being engaged in paid work at the time of this study. The logistic regression model showed not requiring physical assistance in the home environment (p = 0.016), the number of education years before SCI (p = 0.007), household income (p < 0.001), having worked before SCI onset (p = 0.041), and environmental factors (p = 0.029) to be factors associated with employment after SCI.ConclusionThe finding suggests multiple factors influence the employment rate, advocating for interdisciplinary rehabilitation approaches and social development interventions to address meaningful occupations in persons with SCI in South Africa.

Automated summary

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors associated with employment in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) in South Africa. The results showed that multiple factors influence the employment rate, advocating for interdisciplinary rehabilitation approaches and social development interventions to address meaningful occupations in persons with SCI in South Africa.