THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ADAPTIVE AND COGNITIVE DEFICITS IN GERIATRIC CHRONIC-SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS

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.