Are schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder neuropsychologically distinguishable?

Abstract This study sought to objectify the distinction between schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder in terms of standard tasks measuring verbal and non-verbal cognitive ability, auditory working memory, verbal declarative memory and visual processing speed. Research participants included 103...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Schizophrenia research 2008-02, Vol.99 (1), p.149-154
Main Authors: Heinrichs, R. Walter, Ammari, Narmeen, McDermid Vaz, Stephanie, Miles, Ashley A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis
Cognition Disorders - psychology
Diagnosis
Diagnosis, Differential
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data
Neuropsychology
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychoses
Psychotic Disorders - diagnosis
Psychotic Disorders - psychology
Reproducibility of Results
Schizoaffective disorder
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - diagnosis
Schizophrenic Psychology
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Summary:Abstract This study sought to objectify the distinction between schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder in terms of standard tasks measuring verbal and non-verbal cognitive ability, auditory working memory, verbal declarative memory and visual processing speed. Research participants included 103 outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, 48 with schizoaffective disorder, and 72 non-patients from the community. Schizophrenia patients were impaired on all cognitive measures relative to schizoaffective patients and non-psychiatric participants. Regression-based prediction models revealed that cognitive measures classified schizophrenia patients accurately (91%), but not patients with schizoaffective disorder (35%). In addition, there was no statistical evidence for the unique predictive validity of any specific cognitive task. Patients with schizophrenia were significantly more symptomatic and had greater community support requirements than those with schizoaffective disorder. However, group differences in cognitive performance are insufficient to separate these syndromes of psychotic illness.
ISSN:0920-9964
1573-2509
DOI:10.1016/j.schres.2007.10.007