Cognitive function and related factors in patients with the first-episode schizophrenia

Objective To explore the cognitive function and related factors in the first-episode schizophrenia. Methods Thirty four patients with the first-episode schizophrenia and 33 healthy controls were assessed by a battery of neuropsychological tests,which included trail making test, stroop test, symbol coding, symbol search, Wisconsin card sorting test, Wechsler memory scale,and the clinical symptoms were evaluated with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS). Results The cognition of the acute schizophrenia may be affected by gender, educational level. The scores of the stroop test and the recognition component of WMS of male patients were significantly lower than those of female patients(P0.05). In TMT-A, the errors number(0.25±0.78)of male patients was much less than that of female patients(1.07±1.43)(P0.05). In WMS, the scores of the recognition component were negatively correlated to the negative scores of psychotic symptoms(r=-0.408,P0.05). Also, in stroop test, the scores of Stroop-word and the discrepancy scores of Stroop-word minus Stroop-color and word were negatively correlated to the negative scores of psychotic symptoms(r=-0.355,P0.05; r=-0.380,P0.05). Conclusion Cognitive dysfunction in patients with firstepisode schizophrenia may be affected by gender, educational level and illness duration and negative symptoms.