Cognitive impairment and its improvement after six months in adolescents with schizophrenia

Studies evaluating the cognitive impairment in schizophrenic adolescents reported a variable course following antipsychotic treatment, with improvement being associated to patients' demographic or clinical characteristics.

To examine the cognitive impairments of a Mexican sample of adolescents with schizophrenia using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) before and after six months of antipsychotic treatment and to determine which demographic or clinical characteristics could be associated to cognitive improvement.

A sample of 87 Mexican patients was evaluated with the MCCB. Domain scores for three age groups (12-13, 14-15 and 16-17 y.o.) were obtained at baseline, and after 3 and 6 months of treatment. The groups were compared for demographic and clinical variables (sex, school attendance, years of education, being on their first psychotic episode, duration of illness and mean dose of antipsychotic), and a logistic regression analysis was performed to determine which variables predicted larger improvement.

The baseline performance showed scores below the standardized mean, with improvement in all domains except for social cognition; female adolescents showed a larger improvement in attention/vigilance and visual learning domains.

We observed cognitive impairments on schizophrenic adolescents, which improved after six months of treatment in almost all domains.