OBJECTIVE

To compare the cognitive functioning of patients with paranoid schizophrenia with alcohol dependence syndrome and patients with this disease without comorbid alcohol pathology.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study included 34 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, paranoid form, aged 24 to 39 years (22 men and 12 women). The experimental group included 17 patients with paranoid schizophrenia combined with alcohol dependence syndrome with diagnosed symptomatic alcoholism. The comparison group included 17 patients with a similar diagnosis without a comorbid disorder. The duration of the disease in both groups was 5—10 years. The main research tool was a neuropsychological examination, which included the Benton test, the pathway test, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the constructive praxis test.

RESULTS

Moderate cognitive impairments were found in patients with schizophrenia in combination with comorbid pathology, combined with disorders of intellectual flexibility and cognitive control. Also, in the experimental group, marked disorders of constructive praxis and visual memory were noted, which indicates a lesion of the occipital-parietal parts of the brain. Thus, in the course of the study, cognitive disorders were identified in patients with schizophrenia in combination with alcohol addiction: disturbances of perceptual organization, cognitive flexibility and attention switching, visual memory.

CONCLUSION

Concomitant alcohol dependence is a significant factor for changing cognitive functions in patients with schizophrenia: control functions suffer, visual memory is disturbed and constructive apraxia is noted.