Do specific neurocognitive deficits predict specific domains of community function in schizophrenia?

We examined whether specific neurocognitive deficits predicted specific dom ains of community outcome in 40 schizophrenic patients. Neuropsychological assessments were conducted before hospital discharge, and measures of funct ional outcome were obtained 1 to 3.5 years later. A priori hypotheses were generated based upon a recent review by Green (Green MF [1996] What are the functional consequences of neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia? Ameri can Journal of Psychiatry, 153(3):321-330). As hypothesized, verbal memory predicted all measures of community outcome, vigilance predicted social out comes, and executive functioning predicted work and activities of daily liv ing (ADLs). However, in addition to the predicted relationships, many other associations were found between neuropsychological test scores and adaptiv e function. Furthermore, both cognitive and functional measures were interc orrelated. If deficits in adaptive functioning are neurocognitively multi-d etermined, utilizing compensatory strategies to bypass multiple areas of co gnitive impairment may be more efficient than cognitive remediation in impr oving community outcomes.