Cognitive functions in the first degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia in China: a meta-analysis

Objective To investigate the cognitive functions in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia by meta-analysis. Methods Collect case-control studies of cognitive function in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia, then extract data and assess the risk of bias of included studies, and use RevMan 5.3 to perform meta-analysis. Results A total of 27 studies involving 1 708 people were included. Trail Marking A test(MD=3.59, P<0.01) and B test (MD=12.71, P=0.02), Stroop Color test((MD=-7.22, P<0.01), Stroop Color-Word test(MD=-7.25, P<0.01), Digit Symbol Coding test(MD=-7.29, P<0.01), Digit Span test(MD=-1.17, P<0.01), Hopkins Verbal Leaning test-Revised(MD=-4.58, P<0.01), Verbal Fluency test(MD=-2.92, P<0.01), Hanoi Tower(MD=-5.38, P<0.01), the number of corrected of WCST(MD=-3.10, P<0.01), number of completed categories of WCST (MD=-0.74, P<0.01), Perseverative Errors of WCST (MD=4.82, P<0.01) and Nonperseverative Errors of WCST (MD=8.00, P<0.01) scores between the first-degree relatives groups(FDR) and health control groups (HC)showed significant differences. Conclusion Cognitive impairment appears in the first-degree relatives populations of patients with schizophrenia, including the attention, verbal learning, working memory, and executive function. Key words: Schizophrenia; First-degree relatives; Cognitive function; Meta-analysis