Cognitive Impairment Profile in Adolescent Early-Onset Psychosis Using the MATRICS Battery: Age and Sex Effects

• Published in: Neuropsychology 2021-03, Vol.35 (3), p.300-309
• Main Authors: Smelror, Runar E., Johannessen, Cecilie, Wedervang-Resell, Kirsten, Jørgensen, Kjetil N., Barth, Claudia, Andreou, Dimitrios, Ueland, Torill, Andreassen, Ole A., Myhre, Anne M., Rund, Bjørn R., Agartz, Ingrid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Differences; Cognitive Impairment; Female; Human; Male; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Onset (Disorders); Problem Solving; Psychosis; Reasoning; Schizophrenia
• ISSN: 0894-4105; 1931-1559; 1931-1559
• DOI: 10.1037/neu0000723

Objective: To examine cognitive performance, stratified by age and sex, in adolescents with early-onset psychosis (EOP), relative to the healthy adolescent standardized scores for the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Method: Seventy-one EOP patients (12-18 years) were included in the study. Raw scores of nine MCCB tests were converted into age- and sex-corrected T scores comprising six domains and global cognition (cognitive composite score). Patient performance, relative to the healthy reference group, was examined using one sample t-tests (reference T score mean of 50). Age effects were examined using one-way analyses of variance between three age groups (12-14 years, 15-16 years, 17-18 years). Sex differences were examined using independent samples t tests. Results: The patients performed significantly worse than the healthy reference group in all MCCB domains, with a global deficit of −1.6 SD below the reference. Across the domains, the impairments varied from −1.4 SD in speed of processing to −0.6 SD in visual learning and reasoning and problem-solving. Significant age effects were found in speed of processing, attention/vigilance, reasoning and problem-solving, and global cognition. The oldest age group showed largest impairments relative to the age- and sex-corrected reference. Female patients had a significantly higher mean T score in verbal learning compared to males. Conclusions: This study provides a MCCB performance profile in EOP, stratified by age and sex, relative to adolescent standardized scores. The results can be used to improve cognitive remediation strategies and subsequent functional outcome, in adolescent EOP and related clinical populations. Key Points Question: How do adolescents with early-onset psychosis (EOP) perform on the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) compared to normative cognitive development? Findings: The present findings demonstrate that EOP patients have widespread cognitive deficits with increasing impairment across adolescence, relative to adolescent standardized scores. Importance: The results provide a MCCB profile for adolescent EOP, stratified by age and sex, enabling researchers to compare findings across research sites and cohorts. Next Steps: Longitudinal studies, using the MCCB in large EOP samples are needed to identify cognitive patterns over time. Subsequently, this can expand our understanding about psychosis etiology, treatment planning, and improvement of long-term outcome in child