Exploration de la cognition sociale dans la schizophrénie : apports de l'analyse groupale et individuelle

Background The deficit in social cognition in schizophrenia has been demonstrated in numerous studies and metaanalyses. However, previous studies have focused on a group evaluation of social cognition, without exploring interindividual and intergroup variations on populations of different cultures. In addition, the international literature is focused on data from industrialized countries. In Africa, and particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are no data. Methods We conducted case-control studies of 60 and 58 subjects respectively in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium to determine the variability of performance in social cognition evaluated by the ClaCos, in its various components, between subjects of different cultures (patients and healthy controls Belgians and Congolese) and within the Belgian and Congolese groups. The ClaCos explores the areas of social cognition described by Green et al., 2008 : the TREF (facial emotion recognition test) for emotional perception, PerSo for social Perception and social Knowledge, MASC (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition) for Theory of Mind and AIHQ for Attribution Style. This battery also allows the evaluation of empathy performance by the QCAE and subjective abilities in social cognition by the ACSO. Results The results of the recognition of emotions among schizophrenic patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (GMB Kitoko et al., 2019) and the social perception and social knowledge of schizophrenic patients in Belgium (GMB Kitoko et al., 2020) have been published in the form of V articles in scientific journals. Overall, patients with schizophrenia showed impaired and heterogeneous performance in all social cognition assessment tasks, within each group and between groups in two countries. Social cognitive abilities were partially independent from patients' neurocognitive abilities, and clinical symptoms. In both groups, patients showed deficits in facial emotion recognition. These results confirmed the intercultural generalization of emotional facial recognition deficits in patients with schizophrenia. In the Belgium group, patients also showed deficits in social perception and social knowledge, attributional style and Theory of Mind. Finally, the profile of the results on the different ClaCoS battery tests was similar in both groups. The differences between patients and controls were more significant in Belgium than in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Conclusion Patients with schizophrenia have group and specific social cognition deficits generalized to patients of different cultures. The heterogeneity of deficits is observed within the group and between patients in two countries. These deficits are partially independent of neurocognition and clinical characteristics. They are an essential component of schizophrenia. However, the Clacos battery has shown little sensitivity in the Congolese population. Exploration and management of cognition deficits should be integrated into therapeutic programs for patients with schizophrenia. It is also essential to develop tools for assessing social cognition adapted to the African cultural context.(MED - Sciences médicales) -- UCL, 202

Do patients from the Democratic Republic of Congo with schizophrenia have facial emotion recognition deficits?

Patients with schizophrenia can have difficulty recognizing emotion, and the impact of this difficulty on social functioning has been widely reported. However, earlier studies did not thoroughly explore how this deficit may vary according to emotion intensity, or how it may differ among individuals and across cultures. In the present study, our aim was to identify possible deficits in facial emotion recognition across a wide range of emotions of different intensities among patients with schizophrenia from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Thirty stable patients with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls matched for age and level of education were evaluated using a validated and integrative facial emotion recognition test (TREF). A total recognition score and an intensity threshold were obtained for each emotion. Patients with schizophrenia had emotion recognition deficits, particularly for negative emotions. These deficits were correlated to the severity of negative symptoms. Patients showed no threshold deficit at the group level, but analysis of individual profiles showed marked heterogeneity across patients for the intensity of the emotion decoding deficit. Our study confirms the existence of deficits in emotion recognition for negative emotions in patients with schizophrenia, generalizes it to DRC patients, and underlines considerable heterogeneity among patients

Inter-individual variability of social perception and social knowledge impairments among patients with schizophrenia.

Deficits in social perception and knowledge and their negative impact on social functioning, have been repeatedly reported among patients with schizophrenia. However, earlier studies have focused on an overall assessment of social perception and social knowledge, without exploring their sub-components nor the interindividual variation of the deficit. This study aims to refine the exploration of this deficit and to assess its interindividual variation. Twenty-nine patients with schizophrenia and 24 healthy controls, matched for age and gender, completed a validated and integrated social perception and knowledge task (i.e. the PerSo test). Patients with schizophrenia had reduced performance in all PerSo subtests, namely contextual fluency, interpretation and social convention. However, these deficits were not correlated with the severity of clinical symptoms, and individual profiles analyses showed a marked heterogeneity among patients on their abilities. Our study confirms the existence of deficits in social perception and knowledge and underlines their considerable heterogeneity. Therefore, it is necessary to test and rehabilitate individually social perception and knowledge

Affective and Psychotic Disorders in War-Torn Eastern Part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background. There is lack of information about prevalence of affective and psychotic disorders triggered by traumatic events among people living in war-affected regions. This study is aimed at determining the prevalence rate of affective and psychotic disorders and the associated factors in a war-torn eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Methods. This epidemiological cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019 at Cepima and Muyisa health centers. This study enrolled 344 patients that had experienced traumatic events in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo from the 1119 participants, of whom 229 had positive bipolar affective disorder and 115 patients had psychotic disorders. Results. The results revealed that bipolar affective disorders were two times more than psychotic disorders. Sexual abuse, sudden death of a relative, kidnapping, the physical torture, and childhood trauma were the psychological factors correlated to the occurrence of bipolar affective and psychotic disorders. Conclusions. It was concluded that the traumatic experiences were precursors for the occurrence of bipolar affective and psychotic spectrum disorders