Gender Difference in Cognitive Function Among Stable Schizophrenia: A Network Perspective

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the gender differences and influencing factors of cognitive function in stable schizophrenic patients, and to explore the cognitive characteristics of male and female patients. METHODS: A total of 298 patients with chronic schizophrenia were divided into two groups according to gender. The differences of demographic and clinical characteristics between the two groups were firstly analyzed. Then the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) was used to measure their cognitive function, and the correlation between cognitive function and demographic characteristics and clinical characteristics was analyzed. Finally, the gender-based cognitive characteristics were explored through network analysis. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the RBANS total score and sub-item score between the male schizophrenia and female schizophrenia patients. Correlation analysis showed that RBANS total score was inversely proportional with age, duration and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score in male schizophrenia, while being directly proportional with age at onset and inversely proportional with PANSS score in female schizophrenia. Network analysis showed that language was the core of cognitive function for male schizophrenia, and the delayed memory was the core of cognitive function for female schizophrenia. CONCLUSION: There was no significant gender difference in cognitive function score among patients with stable schizophrenia. The core cognitive functions of male and female schizophrenia are language and delayed memory, respectively.