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First episode psychosis patients show impaired cognitive function – a study of a South Asian population in the UK
- Source :
- Journal of Psychopharmacology. 27:366-373
- Publication Year :
- 2013
- Publisher :
- SAGE Publications, 2013.
-
Abstract
- Background: Cognitive deficits are a core symptom of schizophrenia, severely debilitating and untreated by current medication. However, to date there is limited research focusing on the precise nature of the cognitive disturbances at first episode in ethnic populations. Improved understanding of this will allow improved approaches to therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate cognitive function with a first episode of psychosis South Asian patients. Methods: Twenty South Asian first episode psychosis patients and 15 healthy South Asian matched controls were recruited. All were second generation South Asian people living in the UK. Subjects who took part in the study completed the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (patient group), the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading and a battery of neuropsychological assessments to assess specific domains of cognition of relevance to Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) (all groups). Results: Results show that first episode patients performed significantly worse than controls across all cognitive domains tested using CANTAB. Significant impairments were found in tests of visual and spatial memory, executive function, working memory, spatial planning and attention. Importantly, a number of cognitive performance indices (visual memory, spatial memory, executive function) were positively correlated with the severity of negative symptoms. Conclusion: We demonstrate that first episode South Asian patients display significant and specific cognitive deficits with evidence to support an association between negative symptoms and certain cognitive domains at first episode in this patient population.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Asia
Severity of Illness Index
Executive Function
Young Adult
Visual memory
Task Performance and Analysis
medicine
Humans
Attention
Pharmacology (medical)
Psychiatry
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Pharmacology
First episode
Wechsler Test of Adult Reading
Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale
Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery
Neuropsychology
Cognition
medicine.disease
United Kingdom
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Psychiatry and Mental health
Memory, Short-Term
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Psychotic Disorders
Schizophrenia
Female
Cognition Disorders
Psychology
Clinical psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14617285 and 02698811
- Volume :
- 27
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Psychopharmacology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....3f5c9d8aeea8293754666fb1fd60df49