Selected neurocognitive test data and work attendance for chronic psychiatric patients

The relationship between work attendance-absence and selected measures of executive (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Trail Making B) and motor (Purdue Pegboard) function was explored in a sample of 42 chronic psychiatric patients at a sheltered workshop setting. Work attendance was unrelated to intelligence but correlated with several executive and motor variables. A stepwise regression analysis produced a three-variable model which accounted for 40% of the variance. However, the direction of the relationships suggested that high attendance was most likely for older, more cognitively rigid patients, with less manual dexterity than other patients. These findings are discussed in terms of the need to consider jointly neurocognitive and environmental constraints on ecological functioning.