Aim: The main purpose of this research was to examine the influence of sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, level of education, heredity, alcohol and psychoactive substances), and the effect of different therapies on cognitive capabilities of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Introduction: Schizophrenia, as one of the most common psychiatric diseases, is characterized by generalized cognitive damage with various degrees and in all domains of cognitive functioning. Cognitive dysfunction is one of the main causes of poor social and professional functioning for patients with schizophrenia.
Methods: The research involved 50 patients with acute phases of schizophrenia from the Psychiatric Clinic in Novi Sad. The primary instrument for the research was the standardized test for examination of cognitive impairments, Mini-Mental Scale Examination (MMSE).
Results: Acquired data correlated with MMSE score, noting the degree of cognitive impairments in patients, particularly significant with relation to age and duration of illness. Gender, level of education and type of used antipsychotics were not significantly correlated with MMSE score.
Conclusion: During this research it is found that aging and longer illness duration bear significant correlation to higher levels of cognitive impairment.