What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Observational. Population: Schizophrenia (n=31). Intervention: Premorbid behavioral abnormality patterns vs. Different clusters of behavioral abnormalities. Primary outcome: Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test (WCST) performance.

August 1, 2002Open Access

Wisconsin Card‐Sorting Test performance does not discriminate different patterns of premorbid behavioral abnormalities in schizophrenic patients

Key Result

Different patterns of premorbid behavioral abnormalities in 31 schizophrenic patients (Cluster I vs Cluster II) did not differ in current Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test performance.

Study Design

Type

Observational (n=31)

Structured PICO

Does the pattern of premorbid behavioral abnormalities relate to executive function as evaluated by the WCST in patients with schizophrenia?

Population

31 patients with schizophrenia undergoing retrospective childhood and adolescence neurobehavioral assessment and current Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test evaluation.

Exposure

Retrospective childhood and adolescence neurobehavioral assessment by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and current Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test (WCST) evaluation

Comparator

Cluster I (initial low level of behavioral abnormality that increased over the years) vs Cluster II (high level of behavioral abnormality that remained relatively stable until early adulthood)

Outcome

Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test (WCST) performance

Patterns and severity of premorbid behavioral abnormalities are not related to WCST performance in schizophrenic patients, suggesting different factors may be responsible for cognitive and behavioral disturbances.

Abstract

It is well documented that premorbid behavior abnormalities precede the onset of schizophrenia in a large number of patients. The research findings suggest that there are differences in the type and severity of these premorbid dysfunctions. Another research field has shown impairment of preschizophrenic patients in several cognitive domains. The present study reports retrospective childhood and adolescence neurobehavioral assessment in 31 patients with schizophrenia by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and current Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test (WCST) evaluation in order to investigate whether specific behavioral abnormality (BA) patterns are related to executive function as evaluated by the WCST. Cluster analysis was conducted on the childhood premorbid behavior ratings for the schizophrenic patients and two subgroups emerged: (i) Cluster I with an initial low level of BA that increased over the years; and (ii) Cluster II with a high level of BA that remained relatively stable until early adulthood. Furthermore, Cluster II showed more severe current negative and total symptoms, but the two groups did not differ in WCST performance. Our results show that the patterns and severity of CBCL upon retrospective evaluation are not related to WCST performance, which seems to be a feature inherent to the disease process. Different factors could be responsible for cognitive and behavioral disturbances in schizophrenia.