IEPA 11

Kelly Allott1,2, Stephen Wood1,2,3, Hok Pan Yuen1,2, Alison Yung4, Barnaby Nelson1,2, Warrick Brewer1,2, Christos Pantelis5, Patrick McGorry1,2, Ashleigh Lin6; 1Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Australia, 2Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia, 3School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK, 4University of Manchester, UK, 5Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Australia, 6Telethon Kids Institute, WA, Australia
               
It remains unclear whether the onset of psychosis is associated with deterioration in cognitive performance. The aim of this study was to determine the course of cognitive performance over the transition from ultra-high risk (UHR) to psychosis, and in relation to functional outcome. Consecutive admissions to PACE between May 1994 and July 2000 who had cognitive data (including IQ and specific cognitive tests) at baseline and follow-up were eligible (N=80). Follow-up ranged from 7.3 and 13.4 years (M=10.4 years; SD=1.5). In the whole sample, significant improvements were observed on the Similarities (p=.03), Information (p<.01), Digit Symbol Coding (p<.01), and Trail Making Test-B (p=.01) tasks, whereas performance on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (Trials 1-3) declined significantly (p<.01) over the follow-up period. Change on all cognitive measures was not significantly associated with transition status. Taking time of transition into account (within or after 1 year), there was a significant finding in relation to change on Digit Symbol Coding (p=.01), with those who transitioned after 1 year having a decline in score, whereas those who did not transition had an improved score (ES=0.85). Small positive correlations were observed between improvements in functioning and improvements in performance on Digit Symbol Coding and Arithmetic (0.24, p=0.03 and 0.28, p=0.01, respectively). The onset of psychosis was not associated with deterioration in cognitive ability. However, specific findings suggest that immediate verbal learning and processing speed may be important domains for future risk models and early intervention research in UHR.