The capacity of a measure of disability (the LSP) to predict hospital readmission in those with schizophrenia.

One hundred and eighteen subjects with an admission diagnosis of schizophrenia were reassessed after 12 months to establish whether hospital readmission had occurred. All subjects were rated at baseline and after 12 months on the Life Skills Profile (LSP), a 39-item measure of disability, with scores demonstrating moderate stability. The baseline LSP score was a significant predictor of readmission, both in univariate and multivariate analyses. By contrast, several univariate variables (e.g. unemployment and non-compliance with medication over the review period) did not maintain their predictive capacity in multivariate analyses, suggesting that they were manifestations or consequences of significant disability, rather than independent contributors to poor outcome.