Predicting successful job performance of schizophrenics after discharge from hospital

Predicting the job performance of schizophrenic patients after discharge from hospital has been the focus of many studies within the last 30 years. In our own long-term study, we have started to follow-up 50 consecutively admitted schizophrenics taking their individual return on the so-called first employment market as primary target variable. To evaluate the respective predictive power, a set of different neuropsychological, psychopathological and psychosocial parameters was gathered in each patient.

The data presented here are based on our first follow-up 18 months after discharge. In concordance with present literature, statistical analysis revealed the following variables to be of decisive significance for successful occupational reintegration:

• presence vs. absence of both positive and negative symptoms (1)

• subjective ratings by both staff and interviewer (2)

• neuropsychological findings concerning attention, memory and information processing (3,4)

A combination of these parameters provides a useful tool to assess prospectively the individual job performance of a given patient.

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