IS THERE COGNITIVE DECLINE IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

The issue of progressive cognitive decline in patients with schizophre nia has been debated. We performed a cross-sectional study of patients with chronic schizophrenia, aged from 18 to 69 years, in order to add ress this issue. The patients included in this study passed a rigorous screen for any comorbid condition with an adverse impact on central n ervous system function. We assessed intellectual deterioration with a battery of neuropsychological tests known to be sensitive to cognitive impairment in progressive dementia. No evidence of accelerated intell ectual decline was found. No significant differences were found betwee n the five age-derived cohorts (18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60-69 years of age) on the Mini-Mental State Examination, Dementia Rating Sc ale, or other tests sensitive to dementia. While performance on the Bo ston Naming Test significantly declined with age, this was mainly due to age rather than duration of illness. However, it is important to no te that mean performances on the majority of the tests were abnormal a cross all cohorts studied. These results suggest that intellectual fun ction does not markedly decline during the adulthood of patients with schizophrenia. The course of schizophrenia is more consistent with a s tatic encephalopathy than a dementing disorder.