Neuropsychological assessment in first episode psychosis

Objective: After the emergence of psychotic symptoms, if treatment is prolonged, response to treatment is decreased and psychotic relapses are more common. This period which first psychosis emerges contains important clues about the properties. First episode psychosis which shows up in young ages occurs under the effect of many sociodemographic and clinic varieties. In the first episode psychosis patients, cognitive and functional distruptions may be a matter. In this study the effect of socio-demographic variables, alcohol and substance use, the environmental factors such as traumatic life events over the emergence of pyschosis in the first episode psychosis patients were examined and cognitive funtions in first episode psychosis patients were evaluated. Methods: The study sample consisted of 60 First Episode Psychosis patients and 60 healthy control subjects. We used Neuropsychological Tests to evaluate cognitive functions in two groups. Psychosocial risk factors were assessed using Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Social Environment Measurement Tool, Life Events Scale, Tobacco Alcohol Use Scale and Substance/Marijuana Use Scale. In addition to the clinical evaluation of the patient group PANSS, the Young Mania Symptoms Scale and Insight Scale were used for detecting psychiatric symptoms. Results: In this study we found statistically significant differences regarding the last year life events, birth season, judicial history, obsessive compulsive symptoms, familial liability of schizophrenia and psychosis in 1st degree relatives, and attempted suicide in patients with first psychotic episode compared to healthy controls. Childhood trauma scores did not differ between the two groups. Cognitive impairments were significantly impaired in first-episode patients. Patients had poor performance in verbal memory, attention, processing speed, working memory and executive functions that is similar to the previous literature findings. Conclusion: In schizophrenia, deterioration of cognitive function, which is one of the major symptom clusters, is found in the beginning of schizophrenia and also found in the period of first episode psychosis.