Impaired executive performance in healthy siblings of schizophrenia patients in a population-based study.
There is increasing evidence that healthy siblings of schizophrenia patients have similar, although milder, neuropsychological deficits than their affected family members. However, the interpretation of these findings has been complicated by methodological differences, for example the selection of relatives studied and the sensitivity of tests used. We studied neuropsychological functioning in schizophrenia families in representative, population-based samples of schizophrenia patients (n=81) and healthy siblings (n=78) from 58 families, and control subjects (n=70). We found that the healthy sibling group was impaired in tests measuring performance speed and executive functions. The patients were significantly impaired in all neuropsychological variables studied when compared with the control subjects, and also when compared with the healthy siblings. The effects of age, sex and education were controlled for. In conclusion, in a study of representative, population-based sample the healthy siblings of schizophrenia patients demonstrated deficits in processing speed and executive functions.
Kuha
Annamaria
A
Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, 00300 Helsinki Finland. annamaria.kuha@ktl.fi
Tuulio-Henriksson
Annamari
A
Eerola
Mervi
M
Perälä
Jonna
J
Suvisaari
Jaana
J
Partonen
Timo
T
Lönnqvist
Jouko
J
D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D035781:Siblings