Brief screening for executive dysfunction in schizophrenia in a rehabilitation hospital

Few tools assessing neurocognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia are able to measure integrated executive functions in the context of the problem-solving demands of a patient's everyday world. The authors evaluated the BRIEF-A (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult version) Informant Report in 112 inpatients with chronic schizophrenia in a rehabilitation hospital. Factor analysis yielded a three-factor solution (Emotional Regulation, Problem-Solving, Orderliness). The BRIEF-A is psychometrically robust in this population and, in the absence of patient participation, provides an estimate of executive functions in a population that may otherwise be beyond the reach of formal neurocognitive testing.