UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Improvement and decline of cognitive function in schizophrenia over one year: a longitudinal investigation using latent growth modelling

Barnett, JH; Croudace, TJ; Jaycock, S; Blackwell, C; Hynes, F; Sahakian, BJ; Joyce, EM; (2007) Improvement and decline of cognitive function in schizophrenia over one year: a longitudinal investigation using latent growth modelling. BMC Psychiatry , 7 , Article 16. 10.1186/1471-244X-7-16. Green open access

[thumbnail of 1471-244X-7-16.pdf]
Preview
PDF
1471-244X-7-16.pdf
Available under License : See the attached licence file.

Download (448kB)

Abstract

Background: Long-term follow-up studies of people with schizophrenia report stability of cognitive performance; less is known about any shorter-term changes in cognitive function.Methods: This longitudinal study aimed to establish whether there was stability, improvement or decline in memory and executive functions over four assessments undertaken prospectively in one year. Cognitive performance was assessed during randomized controlled trials of first- and second-generation antipsychotic medication. Analyses used a latent growth modeling approach, so that individuals who missed some testing occasions could be included and trajectories of cognitive change explored despite missing data.Results: Over the year there was significant decline in spatial recognition but no change in pattern recognition or motor speed. Improvement was seen in planning and spatial working memory tasks; this may reflect improved strategy use with practice. There were significant individual differences in the initial level of performance on all tasks but not in rate of change; the latter may have been due to sample size limitations. Age, sex, premorbid IQ and drug class allocation explained significant variation in level of performance but could not predict change. Patients randomized to first-generation drugs improved more quickly than other groups on the planning task.Conclusion: We conclude that cognitive change is present in schizophrenia but the magnitude of change is small when compared with the large differences in cognitive function that exist between patients. Analyses that retain patients who drop out of longitudinal studies, as well as those who complete testing protocols, are important to our understanding of cognition in schizophrenia.

Type: Article
Title: Improvement and decline of cognitive function in schizophrenia over one year: a longitudinal investigation using latent growth modelling
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/1471-244X-7-16
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-7-16
Language: English
Additional information: © 2007 Barnett et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED-TRIAL, ANTIPSYCHOTIC-DRUGS, NEUROCOGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, VISUOSPATIAL MEMORY, LIFE-SPAN, PSYCHOSIS, STRATEGY, 2ND-GENERATION, PRESCRIPTION, PERFORMANCE
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Clinical and Movement Neurosciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1309378
Downloads since deposit
116Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item