[Abilities and requirements profile of rheumatic patients, basis for suitability assessment as an interdisciplinary task in vocational rehabilitation].

Vocational rehabilitation service provision is always required when current job tasks can no longer be carried out due to disease-related performance restrictions. For social service agencies and employment offices as well as the rehabilitation facilities to intervene, information is needed on the remaining abilities, in order to be able to match future job requirements accordingly. Chronic rheumatic diseases gain increasing importance due to their high incidence and chronic progression; their impact on the capacity for work is considerable, with little attention however so far paid by the rehabilitation community. For 30 rheumatic patients of working age, abilities profiles have therefore been prepared and requirements profiles been established for their current job tasks, based on the methodological concept of Ertomis-Stiftung which had been supplemented by certain items important from an industrial medical angle. The findings show that the rheumatic person experiences limitations in all movement functions, and that lifting and carrying in particular are not possible. A major request is inclusion of a dynamic assessment criterion in the abilities profiles, as the person with a rheumatic disease in principle is capable of carrying out all movements, not however at the speed required to perform the job tasks.