Summary
In order to evaluate the relationship between psychiatric diagnosis and disability, information obtained from the evaluation of 55 applicants for SSI psychiatric disability was reviewed. The Global Assessment Scale was used as an outcome variable. Signicifacnt associations were found with psychiatric diagnosis (p<0.05), marital status (p< 0.05), and race (p<0.05). The lowest mean scores for diagnosis were: organic brain syndrome and schizophrenia; for marital status, never married; and for race, Hispanic. (It appears the Hispanic low scores were due to a lack of ability to speak English.) No significant associations were found with sex, age, or education.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson JR (1982) Social security and SSI benefits for the mentally disabled. Hosp Comm Psychiatry 33: 295–298
Bachrach LL (1975) Marital status and mental disorder: an analytic review. National Institute of Mental Health, DHEW Publication No. (ADM) 75-217, Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
Endicott J, Spitzer RL, Fleiss JL, Gibbon M (1976) The Global Assessment Scale: a procedure for measuring overall severity of psychiatric disturbance. Arch Gen Psychiatry 33: 766–771
Kochhar S (1979) Blind and disabled persons awarded federally administered SSI payments. Soc Sec Bull 42: 13–23
McLellan A, Ball JC, Rosen L, O'Brien, C (1981) Pretreatment source of income and response to methadone maintenance: a follow-up study. Am J Psychiatry 138: 785–789
Medhus A (1975) Female alcoholics and public assistance. Scand J Soc Med 3: 143–146
Reich J (1985) DSM III diagnosis in SSI applicants referred for psychiatric evaluation. J Clin Psychiatry (in press)
Robertson LS, Keive JP (1983) Workers injuries: the effects of workers' compensation and OSHA inspections. J Health Polit Policy Law 8: 581–597
Spitzer RL, Gibbon M, Endicott J (1973) The Global Assessment Scale (GAS). Biometrics Research, New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, New York State Psychiatric Institute
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reich, J. Factors related to psychiatric disability. Soc Psychiatry 21, 15–16 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00585317
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00585317