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The Longitudinal Stability of Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia

Mini-Mental State Scores at One- and Two-Year Follow-Ups in Geriatric In-Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Philip D. Harvey*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Leonard White
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Michael Parrella
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Katherine M. Putnam
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Margaret M. Kincaid
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Peter Powchik
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Richard C. Mohs
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Michael Davidson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
*
Dr Philip D. Harvey, Department of Psychiatry, Box 1229, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA

Abstract

Background

Severe cognitive impairment affects many patients with schizophrenia, especially geriatric in-patients. Little is known about the course of this impairment, however.

Method

Two hundred and twenty-four geriatric schizophrenic in-patients were examined for changes in cognitive functioning over a one-year follow-up period, and 45 of them were assessed over a two-year period. In addition, the subset of 45 patients participated in a one-week and one-month test-retest reliability study of the instrument used to assess cognitive impairment, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Results

The average MMSE scores did not change over a one- or two-year follow-up period. The test-retest reliability of the scale was extremely good at both retest intervals.

Conclusion

Among the implications of these data are that cognitive changes in geriatric schizophrenic patients are very slow and are more consistent with a neurodevelopmental process than a neurodegenerative course.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995 

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