Disabled People At Work And Work Ability: A Study In A Brazilian Company

The inclusion of disabled people in society is a current concern in many countries. The objectiveofthis study wastoevaluate the work abilityofdisabled workers in comparison to non-disabled workers. The sample for this cross-sectional study consisted of a total of 293 workers, from which 13 were disabled with either a physical, mental or hearing deficiency. A socio-demographic and life style questionnaire and the Work Ability Index were used. The subjects were young, well educated, and were engaged in physical, leisure and other activities outside of work. A lower WAI score was associated with being disabled and with the perception that the work caused fatigue and or stress. In line with this, the inclusion of disabled people in the work force must occur simultaneously with actions to improve overall work conditions. In this way, disabled workers may become effectively included and remain active until retirement age. © 2009 Taylor & Francis Group.117120Conover, W.J., (1971) Practical Nonparametric Statistics, , (New York: John Wiley & Sons)Duran, E.C.M., Monteiro-Cocco, M.I., Capacidade para o trabalho entre trabalhadores de enfermagem do pronto socorro de um hospital universitário (2004) Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 1, pp. 43-49(2004) Report on Social Inclusion. An Analysis of the National Action Plans on Social Inclusion (2004-2005) Submitted by the 10 New Member States, , European Commission (Luxembourg: European Commission)(2005) Oficial Gateway, , http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/s02311.htm, [Accessed in 2005 Oct 11]Hosmer, D.W., Lemeshow, S.L., (1989) Applied Logistic Regression, , (New York: John Wiley & Sons)Ilmarinen, J.E., Aging workers (2001) Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 58 (8), pp. 546-552. , DOI 10.1136/oem.58.8.546Ilmarinen, J., Tuomi, K., Eskelinen, L., Summary and recommendations of a project involving cross-sectional and follow-up studies on the aging worker in finnish municipal occupations (1981-1985) (1991) Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment and Health, 17 (1 SUPPL.), pp. 135-141(2005) Censo Demográfico 2000, , http://ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/censo2000/ tabulacao_avancada/tabela_gr_uf_2.1.3.shtm, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) [Demographic Census] [Acessed in 2005 Fev 15](2002) Inclusão Das Pessoas Com Deficiência, , Instituto Ethos de Responsabilidade Social [Disabled people inclusion]. (São Paulo: Instituto Ethos)Kujala, V., Remes, J., Ek, E., Tammelin, T., Laitinen, J., Classification of work ability index among young employees (2005) Occupational Medicine, 55 (5), pp. 399-401. , DOI 10.1093/occmed/kqi075Monteiro-Cocco, M.I., (2002) Capacidade para o Trabalho Entre Trabalhadores de Uma Empresa de Tecnologia Da Informação, , [Work ability among information technology workers]. [free docence thesis]. Campinas (SP): Universidade Estadual de Campinas(2003) Doenças Crônico-degenerativas e Obesidade: Estratégia Mundial Sobre Alimentação Saudável, Atividade Física e Saúde, , Pan-American World Health Brasília: OPAS2003Seligmann-Silva, E., (1994) Desgaste Mental no Trabalho Dominado, , (Rio de Janeiro: Ed. UFRJ, São Paulo: Cortez)Simon, S., (2006) Definitions of Important Terms, , http://www.cmh.edu/stats/definitions/convenience.htm, [Accessed in 2006 Feb 10]. USATuomi, K., Ilmarinen, J., Jahakola, A., (1997) Índice de Capacidade para o Trabalho, , [Work Ability Index]. (Helsinki: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health)Tuomi, K., Ilmarinen, J., Seitsamo, J., Work, life-style, health and work ability among ageing municipal workers in 1981-1992 (1999) FinnAge. Action Programme to Promote Health, Work Ability and Well-being of Aging Workers in 1990-96, pp. 220-233. , edited by Ilmarinen, J., Louhevaara, V. (Helsinki: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health)(2006) Move for Health. Benefits of Physical Activity, , http://www.who.int/moveforhealth/advocacy/information_sheets/benefits/en/ index.html, [Accessed in 2006 Feb 12