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. 2022 Aug 30:13:934005.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.934005. eCollection 2022.

Assessment and correlates of autistic symptoms in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders measured with the PANSS Autism Severity Score: A systematic review

Gabriele Nibbio  1 , Stefano Barlati  1   2 , Irene Calzavara-Pinton  1 , Nicola Necchini  1 , Elena Invernizzi  1 , Dario Dell'Ovo  1 , Jacopo Lisoni  2 , Giacomo Deste  1   2 , Antonio Vita  1   2
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Assessment and correlates of autistic symptoms in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders measured with the PANSS Autism Severity Score: A systematic review

Gabriele Nibbio et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are considered separate entities, but the two spectra share important similarities, and the study of these areas of overlap represents a field of growing scientific interest. The PANSS Autism Score (PAUSS) was recently developed specifically to assess autistic symptoms in people living with SSD reliably and quickly. The aims of the present systematic review were to provide a comprehensive assessment of the use of the PAUSS scale in available literature and to systematically analyze cognitive, functional and neurobiological correlates of autistic symptoms measured with this instrument in SSD. The systematic literature search included three electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus and PsycINFO) as well as a manual search in Google Scholar and in reference lists of included papers. Screening and extraction were conducted by at least two independent reviewers. Out of 213 identified records, 22 articles referring to 15 original studies were included in the systematic review. Studies were conducted in several different countries by independent groups, showing consistent scientific interest in the use of the scale; most works focused on cognitive and functional correlates of ASD symptoms, but some also considered neurobiological features. Results of included studies showed that autistic symptoms in people with SSD are consistently associated with worse cognitive performance, especially in the social cognition domain, and with worse psychosocial functioning. However, the presence of autistic symptoms appears to also have a protective role, particularly on functioning, in subjects with more severe psychotic symptoms. Further exploring the impact of autistic symptoms could be of significant scientific and clinical interest, allowing the development of tailored interventions to improve treatment for people living with SSDs.

Keywords: PAUSS; autism; cognition; functioning; neurobiology; schizophrenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

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Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram 2020.
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