Disability and socio-occupational functioning in persons with schizophrenia

Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness which severely affects the functioning of individuals in their daily life. Functional disability in chronic illness is one of the major concerns for mental health professionals. The study aims to assess the disability of persons with schizophrenia and its relationship with age of onset, total duration of illness, and socio-occupational functioning. Methods and materials: The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Sixty persons with schizophrenia were selected using simple random sampling from the outpatient department (OPD). Written informed consent was taken from the participants who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Clarifications were made regarding the basic purpose of the study before administration of tools. The study was undertaken with the permission of the Scientific Advisory and Institute Ethics committees. Sociodemographic datasheet, the revised Kuppuswamy scale, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Indian Disability Evaluation and Assessment Scale (IDEAS), and the Social Occupational Functioning Scale (SOFS) were administered. Collected data were analysed using the software (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences [SPSS] 25.0) using the statistical methods of mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, and Pearson correlation. Results: The findings showed that most of the respondents (71.7%) were having moderate level of disability and moderate impairment (40%) in socio-occupational functioning. The global score of disability has a significant positive correlation with total duration of illness (r=0.255, p<0.05) and negative correlation with age of onset of illness (r=-0.075), and there is significant positive correlation (r=0.829, p<0.01) between socio-occupational functioning and global disability. Conclusion: Disability has an impact on socio-occupational functioning in persons with schizophrenia. A higher level of disability can lead to higher level of impairment.