Sex Differences in Cognitive Reserve in Patients with First Psychotic Episodes

Abstract

Introduction: Cognitive reserve is a predictor of functionality and performance in patients with First Psychotic Episodes (FEP). Research shows that the higher the cognitive reserve (CR), the better the later functioning, both in terms of symptoms and performance in the cognitive domains. Few investigations have considered sex differences on CR. Objective: To analyse the differences in CR according to sex in FEP patients and in which cognitive domains these differences are mainly observed. Materials and methods: Retrospective work with 599 individuals (156 controls and 443 FEP patients) from the Programa de Atención a Fases Iniciales de Psicosis. An estimated CR was made by using the proxies: premorbid IQ, years of education and employment status. A neurocognitive battery was administered to evaluate the performance on the domains of verbal memory, visual memory, processing speed, working memory, executive functions, motor skills, attention and theory of mind. Analyses of variance was used to make comparisons between groups. Results: FEP women had higher scores in estimating CR. In the attention domain, it was the FEP men with high CR who obtained the best scores. In the domains of verbal memory and processing speed FEP women with low CR obtained better scores than FEP men with low CR. Discussion: These results confirm that FEP women have higher CR than FEP men, which could be related to the later onset of the disease allowing them to complete more years of education.