Abstracts

Rationale: People with epilepsy (PWE) achieve lower employment rates than the general population. Employability of PWE is impacted by seizure-related, psychological and social factors as often described in biopsychosocial models. Many studies have used employment rate as a parameter to examine PWE employability, but the job turnover rate has received little attention. This study investigated the effect of biopsychosocial factors of PWE on job turnover rate. Methods: This study surveyed 386 patients with epilepsy examined at Tohoku University Hospital Epilepsy Monitoring Unit from October 2015 to February 2019. The inclusion criteria were epilepsy diagnosis, working age (15-64 years), and prior employment history. Consequently, the final analysis included 129 participants. The job turnover rate was calculated as the number of jobs held divided by the number of years after graduating from the highest education institution. Predictors for job turnover rate included 13 variables describing demographic, medical and psychosocial factors. Data were obtained from medical records and questionnaires, and analyzed using multiple regression analysis. This study was approved by the ethical committee of Tohoku University School of Medicine. Results: The average job turnover rate was 0.17 jobs/year. The predictors accounted for 32% of the variation in job turnover rate (R2 = .39, ΔR2 = 33, F [13,115] = 5.74, p = .000). Age (β = −.50, p < .01), sex (male; β = .29, p < .01), current unemployment status (β = −.34, p < .01), full IQ score of the WAIS-III (β = .18, p < .05), self-stigma (β = .27, p < .05), and social support (β = .17, p < .05) all made significant contributions to a higher job turnover rate. Conclusions: Higher turnover rate of younger PWE is comparable with rates for the general public in Japan. Male employees tend to leave jobs due to dissatisfaction with work conditions. PWE with higher intelligence may have higher turnover rate because of high job availability as previously reported. Higher self-stigma has been linked to higher job turnover. Interestingly, social support was a risk factor for turnover unlike previous findings. In conclusion, the job turnover rate of PWE was impacted by multiple individual and societal factors. This study implies the need for vocational support systems to facilitate matched job placement and psychoeducation for PWE, resulting in greater job satisfaction and independence in daily life. Further studies are needed to examine various employment outcomes. Funding: No funding