Publication Abstract Display
Type: Published Abstract
Title: Vocational ability, employment, and neuropsychological impairment in HIV infection.
Authors: Rivera Mindt M, Heaton RK, Marcotte T, Moore DJ, Weinberg K, Grant I, and the HNRC Group
Year: 2002
Publication: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Pages: 188
Abstract:Individuals with HIV-associated neuropsychological (NP) impairment have been shown to demonstrate an increased rate of unemployment and reduced performance on standardized work samples. The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between degree and type of NP impairment, work samples assessment, and employment in HIV. Methods: 271 HIV+ participants completed comprehensive NP, vocational, and neuromedical evaluations. Based upon the results of the NP and neuromedical evaluations, participants were diagnosed as NP Normal (NPN; n = 172), NP Subsyndromically Impaired (NPSI; n = 66), or Minor Cognitive Motor Disorder (MCMD; n = 33). Results: The NPSI and MCMD groups performed significantly worse than the NPN group on all domains of vocational ability (i.e., work samples), and those who failed the work samples assessment were significantly less likely to be employed. Multivariate analyses revealed that verbal functioning, abstraction or executive functioning, processing speed, attention, and motor functioning were all strongly associated with overall vocational ability (R2 = .58). Whereas vocational ability, AIDS status, and NP functioning were singly predictive of employment status, only NP variables were significant when all 3 domains were combined. Among NP ability areas, processing speed, abstraction or executive functioning, and learning were the best predictors of employment. Conclusions: These findings suggest that multiple NP domains are strongly related to both vocational ability and real world functioning. Neuromedical, vocational, and NP evaluations can inform the prediction of HIV-related unemployment, but performance on measures of processing speed, abstraction or executive functioning, and learning appear to be the best predictors of HIV-related unemployment.

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