Psychopathology and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in male schizophrenic patients: influence of dual diagnosis.
Psychopathology
; 41(1): 58-64, 2008.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17975329
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Different neuropsychological studies have shown schizophrenic patients to have executive function deficits, as illustrated by their performance in neuropsychological tasks such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST); certain studies have described a relationship between these deficits and negative symptoms. Schizophrenic patients also exhibit a high lifetime prevalence (40-50%) of comorbid substance use disorders (SUDs). However, little attention has been paid to this comorbidity (dual diagnosis) in studies associating executive functions and negative symptoms. SAMPLING ANDMETHODS:
Our objective is to investigate the relationship between performance in the WCST and psychopathology as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in a sample of 65 male schizophrenic patients with a history of SUDs (Sch SUD+) and in a sample of 48 male schizophrenic patients without such history (Sch SUD-).RESULTS:
In the Sch SUD- group, patients who completed 4 or more categories in the WCST ('good performers') obtained a mean score of 21.2 +/- 8.8 on the negative subscale of the PANSS, compared with a mean score of 27.8 +/- 8.6 in those who completed 3 or less ('poor performers'); these differences were statistically significant (p = 0.015). In the Sch SUD+ group, however, no association was found between WCST performance and the PANSS negative subscale score.CONCLUSIONS:
The presence of a history of comorbid SUDs should be taken into consideration in studies investigating executive functions and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Schizophrenia
/
Schizophrenic Psychology
/
Cognition Disorders
/
Substance-Related Disorders
/
Neuropsychological Tests
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Psychopathology
Year:
2008
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Spain