Understanding the burden of cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia: results from the international LUCIA study

Background: Cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS) is a prevalent and clinically meaningful feature of Schizophrenia, yet real-world data on its recognition and impact across care settings are limited.The 'deLphi to Understand the burden of Cognitive Impairment Associated with schizophrenia' (LUCIA) is an international multistakeholder study that explored awareness, assessment practices, and the burden of CIAS to inform future care pathways. Methods: A three-phase, Delphi-informed design was applied, comprising of expert interviews (n = 11) to frame enquiry, qualitative interviews with health-and social-care professionals (HCPs; n = 74) and caregiver advocates (n = 11), two waves of a Delphi survey (n=449 and n= 343 HCPs in wave 1 and 2, respectively ) and a one wave survey for patients (n=61) and caregivers (n=112) across 15 countries (n=964).Results: The results showed poor awareness of CIAS across stakeholders.Structured cognitive assessment was infrequent and clinicians largely relied on the dementia-oriented Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) rather than schizophrenia-specific tools, citing time, training, and unclear actionability as key barriers.