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Cognitive trajectories following onset of psychosis: a meta-analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2022

Andrew J. Watson*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK; and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Lauren Harrison
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
Antonio Preti
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università degli studi di Torino, Italy
Til Wykes
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK; and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Matteo Cella
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK; and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
*
Correspondence: Andrew J. Watson. Email: andrew.j.watson@kcl.ac.uk
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Abstract

Background

Cognitive impairment is a core feature of schizophrenia, associated with poor functional outcomes. The course of cognitive function in the years following illness onset has remained a subject of debate, with a previous analysis finding no worsening, providing support for the neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia. Since then, many more studies have reported on longitudinal cognitive performance in early psychosis, with some indicating deterioration, which does not align with this view.

Aims

This study aims to quantitatively review the literature on the longitudinal trajectory of cognitive deficits in the years following psychosis onset, in comparison with healthy controls. It is the first to also synthesise longitudinal data on social cognition.

Method

Electronic databases (‘PubMed’, ‘PsycInfo’ and ‘Scopus’) were searched (to end September 2021). Meta-analyses of 25 longitudinal studies of cognition in early psychosis were conducted (1480 patients, 789 health controls). Unlike previous analyses, randomised controlled trials and those with multiple cognitive testing periods within the first year were excluded to minimise bias (PROSPERO, ID: CRD42021241525).

Results

Small improvements were observed for global cognition (g = 0.25, 95% CI 0.17–0.33) and individual cognitive domains, but these were comparable with healthy controls and likely an artefact of practice effects.

Conclusions

There is no evidence of continued cognitive decline or improvement in the early years following psychosis onset, with a need for more studies over longer follow-up periods. Practice effects highlight the importance of including control samples in longitudinal and intervention studies. Further data are needed to evaluate the course of social cognition subdomains.

Information

Type
Review
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re- use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
Figure 0

Fig. 1 PRISMA flow diagram.

Figure 1

Table 1 Meta-analyses of baseline patient versus control differences in cognitive domainsa

Figure 2

Fig. 2 Forest plot showing change in global cognition in the patient samples (standardised mean difference (SMD) is Hedges’ g); P-value is for Q-test; diamond, overall estimate. T1, baseline; T2, follow-up.

Figure 3

Table 2 Meta-analyses of change in cognition across domains, for patient and healthy controls of included samplesa

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