Epilepsy rehabilitation: evaluating specialized versus general agency outcome

This 1982 study was a retrospective comparison of vocational outcome between eight state rehabilitation agencies and the University of Washington Epilepsy Center's Vocational Unit for the years 1977-1978. Hypotheses included: (a) A significantly higher portion of those with epilepsy will find employment through a specialized (i.e., Epilepsy Center) versus a general rehabilitation program. (b) A specialized program will have a significantly lower proportion of program dropouts. (c) Those finding jobs through a specialized program will earn higher salaries and have better job retention than those employing a general agency program. On several comparisons the specialized program outperformed the general agencies--higher proportion of successful job placements and lower proportions of dropouts and those remaining in process (all chi2 tests significant at the p less than 0.001 level). Placement rates for specialized programs have traditionally approximated 50%, whereas these state agencies placed from 9 to 21%. Salary level and job retention differences were inconclusive. Data implications are discussed.