Education and employment levels among Jamaican patients newly diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Background: Comparisons between persons with bipolar disorder and those with schizophrenia are not well researched in the Caribbean. Aims: To compare the educational and occupational attainments in Jamaicans diagnosed with these two disorders. Methods: Data on diagnosis, educational level, type of employment and other basic socio-demographic variables were collected from Jamaican hospital patients who were newly diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Fisher's exact and chi(2) tests, as well as binary logistic regression, were used to explore how these characteristics varied according to diagnosis. Statistical significance was taken at p < .05. Results: Schizophrenia was associated with significantly lower educational attainment than bipolar disorder (p = .022 for educational level attained; p = .026 for completion of secondary school). The majority (87.1%) of the 93 patients included in the analysis had no specific marketable job skills. However, the proportion of persons with bipolar disorder who had such skills was three times the corresponding proportion of persons with schizophrenia. Conclusions: The low educational achievement among persons with schizophrenia makes education a potentially important area for interventions targeted at this group. Because gross deficiencies in job skills were common to both patient groups, improvement in job skill levels is an important goal for persons with either of these disorders.