A Comparative Study Of IVA Continuous Performance Test In Patients With Schizophrenia

Objective: To compare the response control and attention of schizophrenic patients with that of the healthy controls by Integrated Visual and Auditory (IVA) continuous performance test. To quantitate the impairment of cognitive function in patients, and to explore the relationship between cognitive function and the severity of the disorder.Method: A total of 41 inpatients with first-episode schizophrenia who met the diagnostic criteria of CCMD-3 were studied. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia were administered to assess the general mental status of patients before they received any treatment. At the same time, the IVA continuous performance test was used to assess the cognitive function of the patients. 41 healthy control subjects who have no cognitive function disorder also received the IVA continuous performance test. The data were analyzed with SPSS13. 0.Results: 1. Response control: â‘  All the indexes of the response control showed abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia except for STMVQ. â‘¡ There was no difference between the two groups for abnormal rate of STMVQ (P>0. 05), but the abnormal rates of all other response control quotients in patients with schizophrenia were significantly higher than those in the healthy controls (P<0. 001). â‘¢ The indexes of response control were significantly negatively correlated with the total or decreased activity BPRS scores, and negative or lack of reaction PANSSscores (P<0. 05). Some indexes such as FSRCQ, ARCQ, CONAQ, and STMAQ were significantly negatively correlated with the BPRS score of thinking disturbance, hostility, and PANSS scores of positive symptoms and thinking disorder. 2. Attention : ?Comparing with the healthy controls, the indexes of attention in patients with schizophrenia were reduced significantly (P<0. 001). ?The abnormal rates of all attention indexes were significantly higher than that of the healthy people (P<0. 001). (3) All the attention indexes in schizophrenic patients were negatively correlated with the positive symptom score of PANSS(P<0. 05); most of the attention indexes were negatively correlated with total, decreased activity BPRS scores, thinking disturbance scores, and negative symptom, lack of reaction PANSS scores(P<0. 05).Conclusions: In comparing with the healthy people, schizophrenic patients indicate some impairment in response control and attention, and the impairment correlates with the severity of the disorder.