title: Determinants of work outcome in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: role of cognitive function.
abstract: Cognitive impairment has been reported to be more important than clinical symptomatology as a determinant of work and social function in schizophrenia. In a retrospective analysis of a group of 152 patients with chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, performance on a battery of neuropsychological tests was contrasted in employed (32, 21.1%) versus unemployed subgroups. As predicted, neurocognitive performance was more important than clinical symptoms in predicting employment status. Among neurocognitive functions, verbal working memory (as reflected by the Consonant Trigram Test) was the strongest predictor of employment status.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Iwaki Clinic, 11-1 Kamimizuta, Gakubara-cho, Anan-shi, Tokushima 774-0014, Japan. kaneday-tsh@umin.ac.jp
authors: Yasuhiro
authors: Y
authors: Kaneda
authors: Karuna
authors: K
authors: Jayathilak
authors: Herbert Y
authors: HY
authors: Meltzer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014937:Work / Q000502:physiology*