Relationship between disability self-awareness and cognitive and daily living function in schizophrenia

We investigated the relationship between disability self-awareness and cognitive and daily living functions in 49 patients with schizophrenia. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS) self-report was used to identify patient-rated global function. A clinician-rated measure of global function was obtained using the Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP); disability self-awareness was calculated using two global function scores. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) were used to evaluate clinical symptoms, while the MATRICS consensus cognitive battery (MCCB) and the UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA) were applied to assess cognitive and daily living functionality, respectively. The WHODAS scores correlated significantly with the MCCB verbal learning, visual learning, and social cognition domains, and with the UPSA communication domain. The PSP correlated significantly with all MCCB and UPSA domains. Disability self-awareness demonstrated positive correlation with most domains of MCCB and UPSA. The findings of this study indicate that the lower the cognitive and daily living function in patients with schizophrenia, the more positively they perceive their own disability.