Premorbid Adjustment in Predicting Symptom Severity and Social Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia patients have deficits in premorbid adjustment (PMA) and social cognition (SC); both deficits are associated with symptom severity, neuro-cognitive deficits, and prognosis. This study aimed to determine symptom severity and two domains of SC deficit by assessing specific areas of PMA in schizophrenia patients.

This cross-sectional study included 60 male and 60 female patients with paranoid schizophrenia aged 20 to 35 years from two psychiatric inpatient departments of Chhattisgarh state of India. They were assessed using the Scale for Assessment of Positive Symptoms, Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms, Premorbid Adjustment Scale, Recognition of Facial Expression Task, and Picture Arrangement Test.

Deficits in premorbid sociability and in scholastic performance were the best predictors of severity of positive symptoms, social knowledge, and negative emotion recognition deficit in schizophrenia patients.

Given the important role of SC and PMA, assessing premorbid functioning can help in deciding early and appropriate intervention for schizophrenia.