Comparative Study of Cognitive Function in Schizophrenia with and without Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Non-schizophrenic psychopathologies in schizophrenia patients such as, obsessive-compulsive symptoms are often neglected. But recent studies provide support for the legitimacy of a putative schizo-obsessive diagnostic entity. Compared to schizophrenia, schizo-obsessive patients have distinct clinical features and and exhibit more deficits in neurocognitive functioning. The aim and objective of the study was to compare the cognitive function of schizophrenic patients with and without significant obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS). 100 consecutive schizophrenia patients were taken in the study from psychiatry outpatient department and were assessed using cognitive tests. We then categorized patients into three groups depending on total Y-BOCS score. Those scoring ≥16 were put in 1 group, 8-15 in 2 group and <8 in 3 group. The correlations among symptom profile of patients were analyzed using SPSS17. In our study, performance on all cognitive domains, was significantly poor among group 1 and 2. There was significant correlation of Trail A with YBOCS compulsive and total score in group1&2 but not in group3. There was also significant negative correlation between composite Neurocognitive index (NCCI) and total score of YBOCS in Group1.Finding of our study suggests that patients with Obsessive compulsive symptoms and schizophrenia were more impaired across a variety of neuropsychological domains then schizophrenia alone.