Violence, neurocognitive function and clinical correlates in patients with schizophrenia

Yun Yi; Yuanyuan Huang; Qiang Chen; Hanlun Yang; Hehua Li; Yangdong Feng; Shixuan Feng; Sumiao Zhou; Zezhi Li; Fengchun Wu

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1087372

Violence, neurocognitive function and clinical correlates in patients with schizophrenia

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jan 19:13:1087372. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1087372. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yun Yi^{1

2}, Yuanyuan Huang¹, Qiang Chen², Hanlun Yang³, Hehua Li¹, Yangdong Feng¹, Shixuan Feng¹, Sumiao Zhou¹, Zezhi Li^{1

4}, Fengchun Wu^{1

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² Department of Psychiatry, The Brain Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangxi, China.
³ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China.
⁴ Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for Translational Medicine of Mental Disorders, Guangzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia patients with violent behavior are a severe public health concern, but the correlates of this violent behavior are unknown. Additionally, the relationship between neurocognitive function and violent behavior in Chinese patients with schizophrenia has not yet been investigated.

Methods: A total of 337 schizophrenia inpatients were recruited. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess psychopathological symptoms. Neurocognitive functioning was evaluated using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS).

Results: The percentage of violent behavior was 10.4% in patients with schizophrenia. Patients with violent behavior had higher PANSS-positive, excited, and total subscale scores than patients who did not show violent behavior. Patients with violent behavior also had lower RBANS language, semantic fluency, and total subscale scores. Gender (OR = 0.066∼0.819, p = 0.023), illness duration (OR = 0.876∼0.971, p = 0.002), smoking (OR = 1.127∼2.950, p = 0.014), the PANSS positive subscale (OR = 1.050∼1.197, p = 0.001), and the RBANS language subscale (OR = 0.927∼0.987, p = 0.005) significantly contributed to the development of violent behavior in schizophrenia patients.

Conclusion: Our findings revealed that cognitive and clinical assessments should be considered in comprehensive assessments of future risks of violence in schizophrenia patients.

Keywords: PANSS; RBANS; neurocognitive function; schizophrenia; violence.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2021YFC2009403), the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (Nos. 202206060005 and 202201010093), Guangzhou TCM Clinical Core Technology Construction Project: Acupuncture method of Tongyang Xingshen to Treat Mental Disorders Caused by Stagnation of yang qi. [Guangzhou Health Committee TCM (2022) No. 7], “1+N” Construction Project of Guangzhou Acupuncture and Moxibustion Hospital: Guangzhou Health Committee (2022) No. 957, and the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation Outstanding Youth Project (No. 2021B1515020064). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.