Clinical Insight in Schizophrenia Is Associated with Verbal Delayed Recall

• Main Authors: Othman, Zahiruddin (Author), Chong, Teck Lua (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan International Cultural Exchange Foundation, 2018-06.
• Subjects: RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
• Online Access: Get fulltext

 Background: Clinical insight is reliably associated with cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia patients, with episodic memory as one of the most impaired forms of memory in this illness. Objectives: This study aimed to examine clinical insight and its relationship with verbal learning among schizophrenia outpatient in Kelantan, Malaysia. Methods: A total of 108 (mean age 33.7 years) stable schizophrenia outpatients were recruited. Clinical insight, psychopathology, and verbal learning were assessed using the Insight and Treatment Attitudes Questionnaire (ITAQ), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), respectively. Results: In multiple linear regression final model, verbal delayed memory, duration of illness and primary educational status emerged as factors independently associated with clinical insight with 19.4% of the variation explained. No significant association was noted between clinical insight with other socio-demographic factors and schizophrenia psychopathology. Conclusions: Clinical insight was independently associated with verbal delayed memory suggesting the important role of verbal memory, particularly delayed recall, in clinical insight. The association with duration of illness was explained by the study sample's relatively young age.