title: Differences in cognitive function and daily living skills between early- and late-stage schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cognitive dysfunction is a core feature of schizophrenia; deficits often manifest prior to diagnosis and persist throughout the course of the illness. This study was performed to assess the difference in cognitive function and daily living skills between the early- and late-stage schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-five clinically stable patients with schizophrenia were recruited (25 with < 5-year and 30 with > 5-year disease durations). We evaluated subjects' clinical states, cognitive function, and psychosocial factors. The Korean versions of MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery and UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment were used for evaluating cognitive function and daily living skills. Chi-square, Wilcoxon rank sum, and t-tests were used to analyze the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two groups did not differ for most demographic variables. No significant differences between groups were found for clinical symptoms, psychosocial factors, or non-social cognitive domains. However, the early-stage group had higher social cognition domain scores than the late-stage group (p = 0.01). Early-stage patients scored significantly higher than those in the late-stage group did in the communication and comprehension/planning domains (p = 0.037 and 0.027, respectively), and total score (p = 0.003) of the Performance-based Skills Assessment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed significant differences between patients with early- and late-stage illness with regard to social cognition and performance-based skills.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Sung-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: b Shim Joo Cheol Psychiatry Clinic , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Joo-Cheol
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Bo-Geum
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Je-Wook
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Joon
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-Wook
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychiatry , Sharing and Happiness Hospital , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: d Department of Clinical Pharmacology , Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University , Busan , Korea.
authors.forename: Do-Un
authors.initials: DU
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D066107:Social Skills
keywords: Cognition; psychosocial factors; schizophrenia