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Assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome in schizophrenia.
Authors:
Evans, J.J., Chua, S.E., McKenna, P.J. & Wilson, B.A.
Reference:
Psychological Medicine, 27, 635-646
Year of publication:
1997
CBU number:
3559
Abstract:
The performance of matched groups of 31 schizophrenic patients, 35 patients with brain injuries and 26 healthy volunteers was examined on the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (Wilson et al 1996), a battery of tests designed to assess the 'everyday' difficulties of patients with the dysexecutive syndrome. The patients, as well as their relatives or carers, were also administered a questionnaire rating day-to-day failures of executive functioning. Compared to the healthy controls, both the schizophrenic and brain injured patients showed impairment on most of the dysexecutive tests, and there were no significant differences between the 2 patient groups. Significant impairment on some, but not all the tests continued to be found in a subgroup of 16 of the schizophrenic patients who showed intact general intellectual functioning. Amongst the schizophrenic patient group there was evidence of a dissociation between executive impairment and memory impairment. Although there was a significant correlation between performance on the test battery and relatives rating of executive problems for the brain injured group, no such relationship existed for the schizophrenic group.
