Cognitive impairment and its improvement after six months in adolescents with schizophrenia

Abstract

Studies evaluating the cognitive impairment in schizophrenic adolescents reported a variable course following antipsychotic treatment, with improvement being associated to patients' demographic or clinical characteristics. Objectives To examine the cognitive impairments of a Mexican sample of adolescents with schizophrenia using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) before and after six months of antipsychotic treatment and to determine which demographic or clinical characteristics could be associated to cognitive improvement. Methods A sample of 87 Mexican patients was evaluated with the MCCB. Domain scores for three age groups (12–13, 14–15 and 16–17 y.o.) were obtained at baseline, and after 3 and 6 months of treatment. The groups were compared for demographic and clinical variables (sex, school attendance, years of education, being on their first psychotic episode, duration of illness and mean dose of antipsychotic), and a logistic regression analysis was performed to determine which variables predicted larger improvement. Results The baseline performance showed scores below the standardized mean, with improvement in all domains except for social cognition; female adolescents showed a larger improvement in attention/vigilance and visual learning domains. Conclusions We observed cognitive impairments on schizophrenic adolescents, which improved after six months of treatment in almost all domains.

Sex‐differential associations between cognitive impairments and white matter abnormalities in first episode and drug‐naïve schizophrenia

“…Sex differences we found in cognitive deficits in SCZ patients are consistent with previous studies reporting female advantages (Baohua et al, 2017; Goldstein et al, 1998; Han et al, 2012; Victoria et al, 2019), which suggest that female patients might be protected from cognitive deterioration associated with SCZ even in the acute course of this disease. Some studies showed no sex differences (Goldberg et al, 1995) or male advantages in cognitive functioning in SCZ (Ayesa‐Arriola et al, 2014; Perlick et al, 1992).…”

“…For example, early research (Goldstein et al, 1998) found that male patients suffer worse cognitive deficits than female patients. A recent study showed that female relative to male adolescents with SCZ displayed greater improvements in some cognitive domains after 6‐month treatment with antipsychotics (Victoria, Apiquian, Rosetti, & Ulloa, 2019). However, a few studies reported the opposite trend (Ayesa‐Arriola et al, 2014; Perlick, Mattis, Stastny, & Teresi, 1992) or the absence of sex differences (Goldberg, Gold, Torrey, & Weinberger, 1995).…”

Sex differences in association between cognitive impairment and clinical correlates in Chinese patients with first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia

“…For example, Victoria et al used MCCB to examine cognitive impairment samples in Mexican adolescents with schizophrenia. After 3 and 6 months of treatment, all domains were improved except for social cognition [ 30 ]. In recent years, oxytocin (OXT) has emerged as a novel strategy for treating social cognitive and social behavioral deficits in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, an intriguing prospect from both the evolutionary perspective and the neurodevelopmental-cognitive model.…”

Sex differences in association between cognitive impairment and clinical correlates in Chinese patients with first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia

“…For example, Victoria et al used MCCB to examine samples of cognitive impairment in Mexican adolescents with schizophrenia. After 3 and 6 months of treatment, all domains were improved except for social cognition [30]. In recent years, Oxytocin (OXT) has emerged as a novel strategy for treating social cognitive and social behavioral de cits in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, an intriguing prospect from both the evolutionary perspective and the neurodevelopmental-cognitive model.…”