Posttraumatic stress disorder, cognitive function and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia

Fan, Xiaoduo; Henderson, David C.; Nguyen, Dana D.; Cather, Corinne; Freudenreich, Oliver; Evins, A. Eden; Borba, Christina P.; Goff, Donald C.

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2007.10.012

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Volume 159, Issue 1 , Pages 140-146, 30 May 2008

Posttraumatic stress disorder, cognitive function and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia

Xiaoduo Fan
- Schizophrenia Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Corresponding author. Freedom Trail Clinic, 25 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Tel.: +1 617 912 7800; fax: +1 617 723 3919.
David C. Henderson
- Schizophrenia Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Dana D. Nguyen
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
Corinne Cather
- Schizophrenia Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Oliver Freudenreich
- Schizophrenia Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
A. Eden Evins
- Schizophrenia Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Christina P. Borba
- Schizophrenia Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Donald C. Goff
- Schizophrenia Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Received 25 December 2006; received in revised form 17 October 2007; accepted 22 October 2007.

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to assess posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cognitive function, and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia who had a self-reported history of trauma exposure. Outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were referred to the study. Each patient was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), a cognitive assessment battery, Heinrich's Quality of Life Scale (QLS), and the Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS). Eighty-seven subjects who reported experiencing at least one traumatic event were included in the study. Fifteen of 87 (17%) met the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. The PTSD group had significantly worse overall cognitive performance than the non-PTSD group, especially in the domains of attention, working memory and executive function. In addition, the PTSD group showed significantly worse self-rated quality of life as measured by the BASIS total score. The development of PTSD is associated with poor cognitive function and subjectively, but not objectively, rated low quality of life in patients with schizophrenia. Evaluating PTSD in patients with schizophrenia could have important implications from both clinical and research perspectives.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, Posttraumatic stress disorder, Cognitive function, Quality of life