the comparison of maintenance of attention in patients with schizophrenia,major depression and normal individuals

patients with schizophrenia experience a vast range of cognitive disorders. among these deficits, deficit in attention processes realm can be named. the goal of the current study is the comparison of maintenance of attention in patients with schizophre!1ia, major depression and normal individuals. to do so, 32 schizophrenic patients (!5 acute patients and 17 chronic patients), 32 patients with major depression (14 patients with psychotic symptoms and 18 patients with nonpsychotic symptoms) and 32 normal individuals were chosen, aging between 19 and 51. all the 3 groups were matched on the basis of age, sex and education, and were assessed by continuous performance test (cpt). the results indicated that schizophrenic patients had significant poorer performance in comparison to patients with major depression and normal individuals in all the continuous performance test (cpt) variables' (correct response, omission & commission). also, patients with major depression in comparison with normal individuals had significant poorer performance in the correct response and the omission variables of continuous performance test (cpt). generally, results of current study are similar to the other results of different cultures.