title: An optimal combination of MCCB and CANTAB to assess functional capacity in older individuals with schizophrenia.
abstract: Cognitive deficits predict functional capacity in patients with schizophrenia including in late life. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) are widely used to assess cognition in this population. The aim of this study was to determine a minimal set of subtests across the two batteries that would be strongly associated with functional capacity in older patients with schizophrenia.
  
  
  
  Sixty participants age 50 years or older with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 30 control participants were enrolled. Cognition was assessed using the MCCB and the CANTAB. Functional capacity was assessed using the USCD Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA). Stepwise linear regressions were performed to determine the best set of cognitive tests associated with functional capacity.
  
  
  
  UPSA total score was negatively correlated with age and positively correlated with education and the MCCB global score. Most of the MCCB domains and subtests, and several of the CANTAB subtests correlated with UPSA total score. In the regression model, MCCB global score accounted for 42.5% of UPSA variance. In contrast, a combination of only four subtests (processing speed and verbal learning from the MCCB, and affective information processing and working memory from the CANTAB) accounted for 60% of UPSA variance.
  
  
  
  Performance on MCCB and CANTAB is strongly associated with functional capacity in older patients with schizophrenia. A selective combination of MCCB and CANTAB subtests may be as effective in assessing functional capacity in late life schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada. Sanjeev.kumar@camh.ca.|Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Sanjeev.kumar@camh.ca.
authors.forename: Sanjeev
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.|Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Benoit H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Mulsant
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsoutsoulas
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.|Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Zaid
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ghazala
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.|Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Aristotle N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Voineskos
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.|Department of Psychiatry, Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Bowie
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.|Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Tarek K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Rajji
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning
keywords: CANTAB; MCCB; affective information processing; cognition; functional capacity; older; processing speed; schizophrenia; verbal memory; working memory