Verbal fluency as a possible predictor for psychosis

Abstract

Background: Neurocognitive abnormalities are prevalent in both first episode schizophrenia patients and in ultra high risk (UHR) patients.

Aim: To compare verbal fluency performance at baseline in UHR in patients that did and did not make the transition to psychosis.

Method: Baseline verbal fluency performance in UHR-patients (n=47) was compared to match first episode patients (n=69) and normal controls (n=42).

Results: Verbal fluency (semantic category) scores in UHR-patients did not differ significantly from the score in first episode schizophrenia patients. Both the UHR group (p<0.003) and the patient group (p<0.0001) performed significantly worse than controls. Compared to the non-transition group, the transition group performed worse on verbal fluency, semantic category (p<0.006) at baseline.

Conclusions: Verbal fluency (semantic category) is disturbed in UHR-patients that make the transition to psychosis and could contribute to an improved prediction of transition to psychosis in UHR-patients.