Cited by 219Disability Education and EmploymentSchizophrenia research and treatmentEmployment and Welfare Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 72 of the 73 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 33 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Supported employment: Meta-analysis and review of randomized controlled trials of individual placement and support

Open access

Abstract

Supported employment is a treatment whereby those with severe mental illness (or other disabilities) receive aid searching for competitive employment and mental health (or other) treatments concurrently. The most popular implementation of supported employment is individual placement and support (IPS). We conducted meta-analytic analyses of the randomized controlled trials of IPS. We found that subjects in IPS, compared to usual treatment conditions, had better vocational outcomes (obtained any competitive employment: RR = 1.63, 95%CI = [1.46, 1.82]; job tenure: d = 0.55, 95%CI = [0.33, 0.79]; job length: d = 0.46, 95%CI = [0.35, 0.57]; income: d = 0.48, 95%CI = [0.36, 0.59]) Non-vocational outcomes estimates, while favoring IPS, included the null (quality of life: d = 0.30, 95%CI = [-0.07, 0.67]; global functioning: d = 0.09, 95%CI = [-0.09, 0.27]; mental health: d = 0.03, 95%CI = [-0.15, 0.21]). Analysis of the expected proportion of studies with a true effect on non-vocational outcomes with d>0.2 showed some reason to expect a possible improvement for quality of life for at least some settings (Prop = 0.57, 95%CI = [0.30, 0.84]).

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that individual placement and support (IPS) supported employment reliably improves vocational outcomes compared with usual treatment, while non-vocational outcomes were smaller and mostly included the null. A novel proportion-of-settings analysis suggested possible quality-of-life benefits in some settings.

Key findings

  • IPS increased any competitive employment (RR = 1.63, 95% CI [1.46, 1.82]) and end-of-study competitive employment (reported as 1.8x more likely; log(RR) = 0.58, 95% CI [0.42, 0.74]), and shortened time to first competitive employment (d = -0.31, 95% CI [-0.46, -0.15]).
  • Secondary vocational outcomes favored IPS: job tenure d = 0.55, 95% CI [0.33, 0.79]; job length d = 0.46, 95% CI [0.35, 0.57]; income d = 0.48, 95% CI [0.36, 0.59].
  • Non-vocational pooled estimates favored IPS but all confidence intervals included the null: quality of life d = 0.30, 95% CI [-0.07, 0.67]; global functioning d = 0.09, 95% CI [-0.09, 0.27]; mental health d = 0.03, 95% CI [-0.15, 0.21].
  • The estimated proportion of settings with a true quality-of-life effect d > 0.2 was 0.57, 95% CI [0.30, 0.84], suggesting possible benefit in some settings.

Methods

  • Searched PsycINFO; the primary query “supported employment AND randomized controlled trial” returned 111 results, a broader search returned 313, and after de-duplication 368 unique publications were screened. The final analysis included 30 articles: 25 original RCTs, 2 follow-up studies, and 3 secondary analyses comparing IPS with treatment as usual.
  • Random-effects meta-analyses were run in R using the metafor package; binary outcomes used log relative risk and continuous outcomes used standardized mean differences, with intent-to-treat analyses using randomized Ns.
  • The authors also estimated the proportion of settings with scientifically meaningful effects (RR > 1.2 or < 0.8; d > 0.2 or < -0.2) using the EValue library for samples with five or more articles.

Limitations

  • The paper states that included articles varied greatly in quality, that some non-significant results were reported without estimates and could not be included, and that sample sizes were often powered only for the main outcome, limiting secondary outcomes.
  • The paper reports substantial heterogeneity for some outcomes (e.g., quality of life I² = 94.90%; job tenure I² = 68.68%; mental health I² = 64.55%), and some analyses had few studies (job tenure k = 5; global functioning k = 5; mental health k = 6), making estimates imprecise.
  • Evident from the text: the search and data extraction were done by the first author alone, and the discussion notes that cost-benefit evidence for SE/IPS is mixed and that SE/IPS is “not a panacea.”

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0212208

Cites

72 of 72 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

18 tests recomputed · 0 with the reported and recomputed p on opposite sides of .05

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 33 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 15
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 24
36 of 36
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Working is better than not working.

    “In our society, it is generally thought that working is better than not working.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    SE and IPS were originally developed for and used with populations that had severe mental illness.

    “SE and IPS were originally developed for and used with populations that had severe mental illness.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Subjects still work below full time and still suffer from their underlying disorder.

    “Subjects still work below full time and still suffer from their underlying disorder.”
3 of 3

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Statistics that don’t add up

Each reported p-value recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom.

  • Inconsistent p-value: Q(22) = 29.64, p = .1277

    Minor

    The paper reports p = .1277 here; recomputing from the test statistic and its degrees of freedom gives p = .127. The check cannot tell whether the statistic or the p-value is the misprint.

    Reported p = .1277 · recomputed p = .127

1 of 1

Statistics recomputed

Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.

  • Doesn’t add upQ(22) = 29.64reported p = .1277 · recomputed p = .127

    “Q(22) = 29.64, p = .1277”

  • Consistentz = 8.7reported p < .0001 · recomputed p < .001

    “Z = 8.70, p < .0001”

  • Consistentz = 7.23reported p < .0001 · recomputed p < .001

    “Z = 7.23, p < .0001”

  • ConsistentQ(12) = 14.93reported p = .2451 · recomputed p = .245

    “Q(12) = 14.93, p = .2451”

  • Consistentz = -3.93reported p < .0001 · recomputed p < .001

    “Z = -3.93, p < .0001”

  • ConsistentQ(8) = 5.8994reported p = .6585 · recomputed p = .658

    “Q(8) = 5.8994, p = .6585”

  • Consistentz = 1.42reported p = .16 · recomputed p = .156

    “Z = 1.42, p = .16”

  • Consistentz = 4.72reported p < .0001 · recomputed p < .001

    “Z = 4.72, p < .0001”

  • ConsistentQ(7) = 21.477reported p = .0031 · recomputed p = .003

    “Q(7) = 21.4770, p = .0031”

  • Consistentz = 8.23reported p < .0001 · recomputed p < .001

    “Z = 8.23, p < .0001”

  • Consistentz = 8.31reported p < .0001 · recomputed p < .001

    “Z = 8.31, p < .0001”

  • ConsistentQ(11) = 8.3404reported p = .6825 · recomputed p = .683

    “Q(11) = 8.3404, p = .6825”

  • Consistentz = 1.6reported p = .11 · recomputed p = .110

    “Z = 1.60, p = .11”

  • ConsistentQ(8) = 62.1751reported p < .0001 · recomputed p < .001

    “Q(8) = 62.1751, p < .0001”

  • Consistentz = 0.9957reported p = .3194 · recomputed p = .319

    “Z = 0.9957, p = .3194”

  • Consistentz = 0.332reported p = .7399 · recomputed p = .740

    “Z = 0.3320, p = .7399”

  • ConsistentQ(5) = 15.67reported p = .0078 · recomputed p = .008

    “Q(5) = 15.67, p = .0078”

  • Consistentz = 1.46reported p = .14 · recomputed p = .144

    “Z = 1.46, p = .14”

18 of 18

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Drake 1996 employment count exceeds the randomized group

    Major

    Table 5 reports 526 IPS participants obtaining competitive employment in Drake 1996, but Table 2 says only 74 participants were randomized to IPS in that study.

  • Quoted prior-study confidence interval contradicts its significance description

    Minor

    The text describes the prior global-functioning result as nonsignificant, but the quoted 95% confidence interval lies entirely below zero. The quoted point estimate also falls outside that interval.

  • Full-text exclusion totals disagree

    Minor

    The flow-chart description says 24 articles were excluded after full-text review, whereas the accompanying account says 26 were removed at that stage.

  • Job-tenure study count disagrees with the heterogeneity degrees of freedom

    Minor

    The job-tenure analysis reports five studies, but its Q statistic has seven degrees of freedom, corresponding to eight studies in the stated meta-analysis. Table 7 also lists eight studies.

4 of 4

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Show all 73 references

1 of the 73 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. GR Bond, 1997, A fidelity scale for the Individual Placement and Support model of supported employment, Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 40, 265

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 219

Metadata

Authors
Frederick, D. E., & VanderWeele, T. J.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Frederick, Donald E.
Venue
PLOS ONE
Published
2019-02-20
Volume
14
Issue
2
Pages
e0212208
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2915389400
Cited by
219
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 26 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 6
FWCI
5.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Disability Education and Employment
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Employment and Welfare Studies
Keywords
supported employment, Individual Placement and Support, severe mental illness, competitive employment, career outcomes, job tenure, income, quality of life, global functioning, mental health, randomized controlled trials
MeSH terms
Mental Disorders, Female, Humans, Income, Male, Mental Health, Quality of Life, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Employment, Supported

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