title: The psychiatric patient at work.
abstract: Psychiatric consultations and job performance of 135 IBM employees were studied. Psychiatric referrals were made by management and the company medical department or were self-referred. The consulting psychiatrist conducted interviews, met with management, personnel representatives and other physicians to coordinate treatment with job requirements. Every effort was made to retain employees and improve performance. After a two-three year follow-up period, 82 employees (61.7 per cent) were with the company; ten were rated outstanding, 38 exceeded job requirements, 25 were meeting job requirements, and four were not. Performance data for five employees were not available. Forty-nine of 83 employees (59.0 per cent) rated unsatisfactory in job performance at the initial referral were performing satisfactorily at follow-up. The results support an optimistic attitude toward the working patient with psychiatric disease and highlight the value of a full-time medical department with consultation facilities leading to secondary and tertiary prevention.
mesh_terms: D004526:Efficiency; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009787:Occupational Medicine; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational; D013223:Statistics as Topic