Prediction of Self-Report Cognitive Function for the Symptomatic Remission in Schizophrenia Treated with Amisulpride:...

This study aimed to determine whether self-report cognitive function is a predictor of symptomatic remission in amisulpride-treated schizophrenia. Patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia diagnoses who received amisulpride treatment, were recruited. Each patient received amisulpride with a flexible-dose strategy of 400-800 mg daily for eight weeks. Remission was defined by a shorter version of the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale(PANSS)criteria, which includes six items (PANSS-6) with scores of less than three in each item(criteria A) or total six scores of less than fourteen(criteria B). Three hundred and three patients completed the study in 15 hospitals in China. By criteria A, 244 (80.5%) achieved symptomatic remission at endpoint, and 258 (85.1%) by criteria B. Duration of illness (DOI) (criteria A: t = 2.31, P = 0.025,criteria B:t = 2.24,p = 0.026) and perceived deficits questionnaire at baseline (PDQ20 Day0) (criteria A: t = 3.32, P = 0.001,criteria B:t = 2.76,p = 0.006) in remission groups were less than that in non-remission groups. Logistic regression analysis took into account sex, age, age-onset, DOI, and PDQ20(Day0), and showed that PDQ20(Day0) was a predictor for symptomatic remission in criteria A (B = - 0.02, P = 0.014) and criteria B (B = - 0.03, P = 0.005). The odds ratio (OR) of achieving remission will be reduced by 2% in criteria A and 3% in criteria B. There were no significant differences in gender composition, age, BMI, education level, age-onset, a daily dose of amisulpride and the percentage of PDQ20 Improvement between remission and nonremission in criteria A or criteria B. Receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves were found for PDQ20(Day0) to define the precise scores to predict remission of schizophrenia (criteria A:AUC = 0.614, S.E. = 0.041, 95% CI = 0.535-0.694, p = 0.007; criteria B:AUC = 0.633, S.E. = 0.045, 95% CI = 0.545-0.721, p = 0.005). Our data suggest that an early self-report cognitive function in amisulpride-treated schizophrenia is important in predicting for symptomatic remission, the fewer scores of PDQ20 at baseline mean the patients have less daily cognitive difficulty, the more likely the patient is to achieve symptomatic remission.