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. 2018 Apr;13(2):84-93.

Age at Onset and Social Cognitive Impairment in Clinically Stabilized Patients with Schizophrenia: An Ecological Cross-Sectional Study

Alice Caldiroli  1 , Marta Serati  1 , Giulia Orsenigo  1 , Elisabetta Caletti  1 , Massimiliano Buoli  1
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Age at Onset and Social Cognitive Impairment in Clinically Stabilized Patients with Schizophrenia: An Ecological Cross-Sectional Study

Alice Caldiroli et al. Iran J Psychiatry. 2018 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: Purposes of the present study were to assess the social cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and to detect if some clinical variables (particularly age at onset) are predictive of general/social cognitive deficit in schizophrenia patients. Method: Thirty-five clinically stabilized schizophrenia outpatients were assessed by the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) and by Torralva's social cognition battery. Binary logistic models were performed to find an eventual association between continuous clinical variables and cognitive test failures. The total sample was divided in groups according to dichotomous variables (gender, diagnostic subtypes and type of abuse) and the presence of cognitive deficits was compared between groups by χ2 tests. Results: An earlier age at onset was found to be predictive of frontal cognitive impairment (Tower of London p=0.038, OR=0.702). Female gender was more probably associated with mistakes at MET-HV (χ2= 4.80, p=0.05, phi=0.40) and HOTEL tests (χ2= 5.25, p=0.04, phi=0.4) than male one. Cannabis abusers showed more frequently deficits on verbal fluency (χ2= 9.35, p=0.04, phi=0.52) and executive functioning (Tower of London) (χ2= 11.67, p=0.02, phi=0.58) than alcohol/cocaine ones. Conclusion: Female patients with an early age at onset and cannabis abuse seem to have the worst general and social cognitive profile among patients suffering from schizophrenia.

Keywords: Age at Onset; Cannabis Abuse; Gender; Schizophrenia; Social Cognition.

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Figures

Figure1
Figure1
Gender Differences in Multiple Errands Test (MET) Performances
Figure2
Figure2
Substance Abuse and Differences in Verbal Fluency Performances
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