Cognitive functions in schizophrenia: a comparative study in an Indian population

Background Significant cognitive impairment has been considered a core characteristic of schizophrenia. Though many studies have reviewed the phenomenon, only a few Indian studies have investigated this aspect.

Aims To compare the functioning of six cognitive domains of patients with chronic schizophrenia with an age, sex and education matched control group and to assess the association of socio-demographic and clinical correlates with cognitive functioning.

Methods Nine different neuropsychological tests were administered to assess the different cognitive domains. These were administered to 47 patients with chronic schizophrenia and 29 healthy controls.

Results Patients with schizophrenia performed poorly in the areas of processing speed, verbal learning, verbal working memory and visual working memory. We also found that negative symptoms predict poor performance in speed of processing and verbal working memory. Increased age was a predictor of better verbal fluency. Family history of schizophrenia in first degree relatives is a predictor of poor verbal working memory.

Conclusions The findings suggest that patients with chronic schizophrenia show selective cognitive impairment. The study failed to show any impairment in the area of concentration and executive function, though patients needed more time and intermittent verbal prompts to reach a level of performance equivalent to controls. Negative symptoms were found to affect cognitive performance while age was associated with better verbal fluency performance.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljpsyc.v3i1.3836

SL J Psychiatry 2012; 3 (1):21-27