McDermid Vaz Stephanie A, Heinrichs R Walter
Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Ontario, Toronto, Canada M3J 1P3.
Psychiatry Res. 2002 Dec 15;113(1-2):93-105. doi: 10.1016/s0165-1781(02)00246-9.
Evidence is presented that verbal memory impairment distinguishes a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia who also differ in symptom profile and illness adjustment. On the basis of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), a sample of patients was partitioned into memory-impaired (n=16) and memory-unimpaired groups (n=16). Groups were matched for age, sex, IQ, and anti-psychotic medication. These groups were then compared using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). Results indicate that memory-impaired schizophrenia patients experience significantly more positive symptoms and a poorer quality of life than their memory-unimpaired counterparts. This finding supports the idea that neurocognitive measures are a valuable way of organizing the heterogeneous disease states of schizophrenia.
