Impairment in cognition in schizophrenia may be as severe after first-episode psychosis as it is in people with chronic schizophrenia, study results suggest.

Mexican investigators examined the time course of cognitive deficits in their study of three groups of antipsychotic-naive patients: 87 at clinical high risk for psychosis, 64 with first-episode psychosis (duration of less than 74 weeks) and 40 with chronic schizophrenia (duration 74 weeks and over). They also included 102 matched healthy controls.

Cognition, as assessed with the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery, was significantly impaired in all patient groups compared with controls.

Cognitive impairment was significantly greater among patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) or chronic schizophrenia, with no significant difference between the two groups, the researchers reported in JAMA Psychiatry.