Verbal fluency as a possible predictor for psychosis

BackgroundNeurocognitive abnormalities are prevalent in both first episode schizophrenia patients and in ultra high risk (UHR) patients.AimTo compare verbal fluency performance at baseline in UHR in patients that did and did not make the transition to psychosis.MethodBaseline verbal fluency performance in UHR-patients (n = 47) was compared to match first episode patients (n = 69) and normal controls (n = 42).ResultsVerbal fluency (semantic category) scores in UHR-patients did not differ significantly from the score in first episode schizophrenia patients. Both the UHR group (p < 0.003) and the patient group (p < 0.0001) performed significantly worse than controls. Compared to the non-transition group, the transition group performed worse on verbal fluency, semantic category (p < 0.006) at baseline.ConclusionsVerbal fluency (semantic category) is disturbed in UHR-patients that make the transition to psychosis and could contribute to an improved prediction of transition to psychosis in UHR-patients.