Retrospective study of factors affecting employability of individuals withcerebral palsy in Japan.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of individ uals with cerebral palsy that affected their ability to find a job in Japan . A retrospective nonrandomized descriptive study was performed. Subjects w ere 99 individuals with cerebral palsy who were eligible to have a vocation al training at the National Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled after gr aduation from high school. All of them were able to perform ADL unassistedl y. The mean age of the subjects was 19.9 years (range, 18 to 33) and the me an intelligence quotient measured by WAIS-R was 78.5 (range, 46 to 110). Wa lking ability, being female and experience of learning in a regular middle high school were significant explanatory variables in the multiple regressi on equation. The ability of individuals with cerebral palsy to geta job in Japan in the 1990's was largely determined by being able to walk and having an education in a regular school. (C) 2000 Tohoku University Medical Press .