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Return to the labour market in schizophrenia and other psychoses: a register-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study

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Abstract

Purpose

The prospects and predictors of returning to the labour market after long-term work disability in psychoses are unclear. Our aim was to study the proportion and characteristics of persons with schizophrenia and other psychoses who return to the labour market after receiving a disability pension.

Methods

In this 50-year follow-up study in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966), national registers on demographics, care, and disability pensions were used to detect and characterize individuals who had been on a disability pension for psychiatric reasons. We compared individuals with schizophrenia (SZ, n = 223) or other psychoses (OP, n = 200) to those with non-psychotic psychiatric disorders (NP, n = 1815) regarding demographics and end of pension by cross-tabulations and logistic regression.

Results

Of the 170 (74%) persons with SZ who had been on disability pension for a psychiatric reason, 15 (9%) returned to the labour market. Corresponding percentages were 19% for OP and 28% for NP. In SZ, being married, a later onset age of psychosis, and better school performance, and in OP and NP, having children predicted returning to the labour market. In all groups, a shorter length of the latest disability pension associated with returning to the labour market.

Conclusion

Although rare, it is possible to return to the labour market after a disability pension due to psychosis. Factors predicting a return to the labour market could be taken into account when planning rehabilitation.

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Data availability

The data is under gated access. Data is available from the NFBC project center (NFBCprojectcenter@oulu.fi) for researchers who meet the criteria for accessing confidential data (www.oulu.fi/nfbc).

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Acknowledgements

We thank all cohort members and researchers. We also wish to acknowledge the work of the NFBC project center.

Funding

Oulu University Hospital funding (basic government funding for hospitals).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Life Course Health Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    Tuomas Majuri, Marianne Haapea, Hanna Huovinen, Tanja Nordström, Leena Ala-Mursula, Matti Penttilä, Jouko Miettunen & Erika Jääskeläinen

  2. Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Marianne Haapea, Tanja Nordström, Jouko Miettunen & Erika Jääskeläinen

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    Marianne Haapea & Erika Jääskeläinen

  4. Northern Finland Birth Cohorts, Infrastructure for Population Studies, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Tanja Nordström

  5. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Helsinki, Finland

    Kari-Pekka Martimo

Authors
  1. Tuomas Majuri
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  2. Marianne Haapea
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  3. Hanna Huovinen
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  4. Tanja Nordström
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  5. Leena Ala-Mursula
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  6. Matti Penttilä
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  7. Kari-Pekka Martimo
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  8. Jouko Miettunen
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  9. Erika Jääskeläinen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tuomas Majuri.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical statement

The NFBC1966 study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District and relevant keepers of the registers. The study has been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. According to Finnish legislation, individual consents are not needed for solely register-based studies.

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Majuri, T., Haapea, M., Huovinen, H. et al. Return to the labour market in schizophrenia and other psychoses: a register-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 56, 1645–1655 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-02009-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-02009-1

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