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Is There Cognitive Decline in Schizophrenia?

A Cross-sectional Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Thomas M. Hyde ,
Safia Nawroz ,
Terry E. Goldberg ,
Llewellyn B. Bigelow ,
David Strong ,
Jill L. Ostrem ,
Daniel R. Weinberger  and
Joel E. Kleinman
Thomas M. Hyde*
Affiliation:
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Neuroscience Center at St Elizabeth's, Washington, DC 20032, USA
Safia Nawroz
Affiliation:
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Neuroscience Center at St Elizabeth's, Washington, DC 20032, USA
Terry E. Goldberg
Affiliation:
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Neuroscience Center at St Elizabeth's, Washington, DC 20032, USA
Llewellyn B. Bigelow
Affiliation:
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Neuroscience Center at St Elizabeth's, Washington, DC 20032, USA
David Strong
Affiliation:
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Neuroscience Center at St Elizabeth's, Washington, DC 20032, USA
Jill L. Ostrem
Affiliation:
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Neuroscience Center at St Elizabeth's, Washington, DC 20032, USA
Daniel R. Weinberger
Affiliation:
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Neuroscience Center at St Elizabeth's, Washington, DC 20032, USA
Joel E. Kleinman
Affiliation:
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Neuroscience Center at St Elizabeth's, Washington, DC 20032, USA
*
∗Correspondence
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Extract

The issue of progressive cognitive decline in patients with schizophrenia has been debated. We performed a cross-sectional study of patients with chronic schizophrenia, aged from 18 to 69 years, in order to address this issue. The patients included in this study passed a rigorous screen for any comorbid condition with an adverse impact on central nervous system function. We assessed intellectual deterioration with a battery of neuropsychological tests known to be sensitive to cognitive impairment in progressive dementia. No evidence of accelerated intellectual decline was found. No significant differences were found between the five age-derived cohorts (18–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, and 60–69 years of age) on the Mini-Mental State Examination, Dementia Rating Scale, or other tests sensitive to dementia. While performance on the Boston Naming Test significantly declined with age, this was mainly due to age rather than duration of illness. However, it is important to note that mean performances on the majority of the tests were abnormal across all cohorts studied. These results suggest that intellectual function does not markedly decline during the adulthood of patients with schizophrenia. The course of schizophrenia is more consistent with a static encephalopathy than a dementing disorder.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 164 , Issue 4 , April 1994 , pp. 494 - 500
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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