Pd. Harvey et al., THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ADAPTIVE AND COGNITIVE DEFICITS IN GERIATRIC CHRONIC-SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS, Schizophrenia research, 27(2-3), 1997, pp. 211-218
Cognitive impairments have been shown to predict impairments in adapti
ve functioning in patients with chronic schizophrenia and to be more p
redictive of overall outcome than positive or negative symptoms of the
illness. Both adaptive and cognitive impairments are multidimensional
, and it is possible that correlations between these domains may be li
mited to certain aspects of these functions. In this study, 208 geriat
ric patients with chronic schizophrenia were examined with a cognitive
battery and assessed with a structured scale to determine the extent
of their adaptive functions. Instrumental and social skills deficits w
ere more strongly correlated with cognitive impairments than with the
severity of undercontrolled behavior. Each of the cognitive measures w
as correlated with global social-adaptive deficits, with minimal varia
tion in the magnitude of correlations. These results suggest that inte
rventions should be individually targeted to cognitive-adaptive impair
ments and undercontrolled behavior. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.