Predictors for work participation in individuals with an Autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review

Research shows that only about 25% of people with autism are employed.

We conducted a systematic review on factors facilitating or hindering work participation of people with autism in longitudinal studies. An extensive search in biomedical and psychological databases yielded 204 articles and 18 satisfied all inclusion criteria. We assessed the methodological quality of included studies using an established criteria list.

Seventeen factors were identified and categorized as disease-related factors, personal factors or external factors. Limited cognitive ability was the only significant predictor consistently found for work outcome. Functional independence and institutionalization were both reported by one study to be significantly related to work outcome. Inconsistent findings or non significant findings were reported for the other fourteen factors.

These findings emphasize the need for more high quality cohort studies focussing on work participation as the main outcome among people with Autism.