Competitive employment in schizophrenia: clinical and neuropsychological correlates and quality of life

Aim. To investigate the relationships among psychopatology, cognitive functioning, quality of life and competitive employment in patients with stable schizophrenia. Materials and methods. We recruited 143 consecutive outpatients with stable schizophrenia, divided into 2 groups (unemployed and competitive employed subjects). A clinical and a neuropsychological assessments were perfomed. The differences between the two groups were tested using chi-square test for categorical variables and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for continuous variables. Variables significantly different between the two groups of subjects were analyzed using a logistic regression with a backward stepwise procedure to assess their independent contribution to competitive employment in the two patients’ groups. Results. The two groups of patients had similar demographic characteristics, except education. Negative symptoms (PANSS-N) and general psychopathology (PANSS-G) were significantly less severe in the group of patients with a competitive employment, that also showed higher scores at the Quality of Life Scale (QLS) and higher scores on verbal memory/learning (CVLT) and attentive functions (Stroop test). Binary logistic regression showed that education, verbal memory/learning and quality of life, were significantly associated with the presence of competitive employment. Discussion. Our findings confirmed the importance of cognitive function in obtaining competitive employment and highlighted the independent role of quality of life and education on occupational functioning in schizophrenia.