[Work capacity and multiple sclerosis].

A report is given on the working capacity of 431 patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) who were treated as inpatients at the neurologic-psychiatric clinic of the Medical Academy of Dresden in the period from 1960 to 1977. Leaving out of account the age when the disease began, the course of the disease and the symptoms, 84 per cent of the patients still alive were still able to work after 1 to 5 years, 80.1 per cent after 6 to 10 years and 75 per cent after more than 21 years. Patients with cerebral symptoms and those with an intermittent course of the disease were best suited for an integration in the working process. The largest part of the patients who had to be declared invalid was found among the agricultural workers. In 18.6 per cent of the patients, declaration of invalidity could be avoided by an appropriate workplace.