Neurocognitive Deficits in the Dually Diagnosed With Schizophrenia and Cocaine Abuse

Abstract

The treatment of persons with schizophrenia who concurrently have substance abuse disorders customarily requires more complex, coordinated and integrated services; however, it is not known whether such dually diagnosed individuals have greater cognitive deficits than those persons with schizophrenia alone. Services for the dually diagnosed could be more specifically designed if the neurocognitive impairments and associated disabilities of these individuals were known. Hospitalized persons with schizophrenia, with and without concurrent cocaine dependence were evaluated on a battery of neurocognitive tests and clinical assessments at the time of admission to the hospital and again 18 days later. There was little evidence of different neurocognitive profiles for the two groups studied, especially at the 18 day time period, suggesting that the dually diagnosed can be treated with the same methods for compensating attentional, memory and learning disabilities as those persons with schizophrenia alone.