engleski

Neurocognitive profile in schizophrenia: a nested cross- sectional study

Introduction: According to previous literature, neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia are present since the begining of the illness. While some report relative stability of impairment, others mention domain specific differences (e.g. verbal fluency) that vary during time. Objectives: To analyze the neurocognitive profile and its differences between patients with first episode psychosis and schizophrenia. Methods: We conducted a cross- sectional study including patients with first episode psychosis (N= 100) and schizophrenia (N= 100) recruited from three croatian hospitals during acute phase of their illness. Assessment included battery of various neurocognitive tests representing five domains of neurocognition. Results: Our results showed that three structurally equivalent neurocognitive profiles fitted the data the best for both patient groups. Profiles differed in the successfulness in domain specific tests, with Profile 1 being „The best“ and Profile 3 „The worst“. Differences between patient groups were more of a quantitative than of qualitative nature, with “The best” profile being more prevalent in the first episode patients’ group (40.2%), who also had better performace in all neurocognitive tasks. Conclusions: When presented in profile model, it seems that neurocognitive impairment in schizophrenia is a specific trait of illness that does not change in its nature, but it deteriorates lineraly whith the progression of illness.

first-episode psychosis ; schizophrenia ; neurocognitive profile ; latent analysis

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