PERFORMANCE ON TESTS SENSITIVE TO IMPAIRED EXECUTIVE ABILITY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA, MANIA AND WELL CONTROLS - ACUTE AND SUBACUTE PHASES

Aims: To compare the performance of schizophrenia, mania and well cont rol groups on tests sensitive to impaired executive ability, and to as sess the within-group stability of these measures across the acute and subacute phases of psychoses. Method: Recently admitted patients with schizophrenia (n=36), mania (n=18) and a well control group (n=20) we re assessed on two occasions separated by 4 weeks. Tests included: the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, the Stroop Test, the Wisconsin Card Sort Test, and the Trail Making Test. Results: The two patient g roups were significantly impaired on the Stroop Test at both time poin ts compared to the control group. Significant group differences were a lso found for the Trail Making Test at Time 1 and for the Wisconsin Ca rd Sort Test at Time 2. When controlled for practice effect, significa nt improvements over time were found on the Stroop and Trail Making te sts in the schizophrenia group and on WCST Categories Achieved in the mania group. Discussion: Compared to controls, the patient groups were impaired on measures related to executive ability. The pattern of imp rovement on test scores between the acute and subacute phases differed between patients with schizophrenia versus patients with mania. (C) 1 997 Elsevier Science B.V.