title: The crucial role of sustained attention in community functioning in outpatients with schizophrenia.
abstract: The aim was to explore the pattern of associations between visual cognitive performance and community functioning in a sample of outpatients with schizophrenia participating in a rehabilitation program. Visuo-spatial tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) were administered to assess cognitive performances in 88 subjects. The Multnomah Community Ability Scale (MCAS) was used to measure dimensions of community functioning. Our results showed that the sustained attention score was significantly associated with the global community functioning score and with two specific dimensions: "adjustment to living" and "behavioral problems". No association was found between other cognitive indices and MCAS scores. Since the sustained attention task mainly involves the executive component of working memory, these findings suggest that attentional control processes are limiting factors for community functioning in schizophrenia outpatients. Measures of such processes could serve as key indices of disability in clinical practice. Attention and working memory training may be helpful to improve community functioning in subjects with schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: EA 3676 and JE 2358, IFR of Public Health, University Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, 146 rue Leo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Antoinette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prouteau
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Verdoux
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Briand
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lesage
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lalonde
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nicole
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reinharz
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stip
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012931:Social Environment; D013028:Space Perception; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology