The comparison of decision-making behavior between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls

Objective: In this study, it is aimed to compare schizophrenic patients and healthy controls about decision-making behavior and to assess the relationship of decision making between severity of the disease and impairment in social functioning. The impairment in decision-making effects or not the disease severity and social functioning is aimed to assess.

Method: Fifty one patients, who were followed up by Erenkoy Mental Health Research and Training Hospital psychotic disorders outpatient clinic, signed informed consent form and healthy controls who declared that had not have any psychiatric and medical disorders, signed informed consent form were accepted to the study. The patient and healthy groups were accompanied with age, gender and exclusion criteria. The study was started March 2012. Data collecting forms were completed with face-to-face interviews. Thereafter, Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and IOWA Gambling Task (IGT), Color Trails Test (CTT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) were administered to the patient group and the scores were assessed. IGT, CTT, WCST, FAB were administered to control group and scores were assessed.

Results: It was found that decision-making was impaired in schizophrenic patient group when compared to healthy group. Except than IGT-1 score, other IGT scores (IGT-2, IGT-3, IGT-4, IGT-5, IGT net total) in schizophrenic patients were statistically lower than the control group. No statistical difference was detected between groups in IGT-1 score. Statistically meaningful reverse relation was found between IGT-2 (pre-hunch) sub- scale score and PANSS negative syndrome subscale scores, when the relation between IGT subscale and net total scores and PANSS scores were assessed. There was a relation between IGT-5 (conceptual knowledge) subscale and PSP subscale.

Conclusion: It was found that decision-making was impaired in the parts that “ pre-hunch, hunch and conceptual knowledge” in schizophrenic group when compared with healthy group. Reverse relation was detected in decision-making progress between “pre-hunch” and negative symptoms in schizophrenic patients.