Abstract
IntroductionSchizophrenia spectrum disorders may severely limit ability to achieve and maintain gainful employment of affected working-age individuals.ObjectivesAssess the employment status in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders treated with long acting injectable paliperidone palmitate after the switch from oral antipsychotics.MethodsA single centre mirror image design study of 115 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder was conducted in a tertiary level psychiatric hospital. Data were collected for period of 12 months prior toand 12 months after switching from oral antipsychotic to long acting injectable paliperidone.Employment status for 6 enrolled patients was missing.ResultsMean age of enrolled patients was 38,4±11,6 years. Of the 109 patients analyzed for employment status, 44,4% remained employed for 12 months after switching to long acting injectable paliperidone while 4,6% patients changed their employment status from unemployed to employed after the switch. No patient changed their employment status from employed to unemployed after the switch. 9,2% patients were already retired at the beginning of study period and 5,5% of patients maintained their student status. 36,7% patients remained unemployed for the whole study period. The correlation between employment status of employed and unemployed patients and duration of illness was borderline significant with p=0,049.ConclusionsThe data from this study suggest that use of long acting injectable paliperidone contributed to preservation of working ability of working-age patients suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
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