Prospective memory in non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia: a meta-analysis

Prospective memory (PM) could be impaired in the non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia. This meta-analysis systematically examined the PM of non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia. Both Chinese and English databases were systematically searched for articles from the inception of the databases through November 13, 2018. Case-control studies of PM in non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia were included in the analyses. Confidence intervals (CIs) and standardized mean differences (SMDs) were calculated utilizing the random effects model. Four studies (n=268) that compared PM performance between non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia (n=136) and healthy controls (n=132) were included. Three studies were rated as “high quality”, while the quality of evidence of the three outcomes included in this meta-analysis was moderate. Compared with the healthy controls, the non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia showed impairments in overall PM (two studies, n=127; SMD: −0.46; 95% CI=−0.82, −0.11, P=0.01; I=0%), event-based PM (EBPM) (four studies, n=268; SMD: −0.56; 95% CI=−0.80, −0.31, P<0.00001; I=0%), and time-based PM (TBPM) (four studies, n=268; SMD: −0.66; 95% CI=−0.90, −0.41, P<0.00001; I=0%). This meta-analysis demonstrated that the overall PM, EBPM, and TBPM might be impaired in the non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia.