Labour force participation and employment among a sample of Australian patients with a spinal cord injury.

This study examined the employment achievements of 219 spinal cord injured people and attempted to identify predictors which, individually and in combination, (a) discriminated between those who were in the labour force or not, and (b) correlated with the amount of time in employment post injury. Results indicated that at the time of the survey 26% were in full-time work, 11% were in part-time work, 4% were unemployed and 59% were not actively seeking work. Multivariate analyses identified three variables (impairment type, study since injury, level of pre-injury secondary schooling) which were related to both labour force participation and the amount of work undertaken post-injury. These results are discussed with reference to post-injury services that could be offered to spinal cord injury people who wish to return to work or gain employment.