A recent study examined potential sex differences in cognitive performance among schizophrenia patients with tardive dyskinesia (TD). The study involved 496 schizophrenia inpatients and 362 healthy controls. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate patients’ psychopathological symptoms, while the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale measured the severity of TD. Cognitive function was assessed using the Repeatable Battery for Assessment of Neuropsychological Status in a subgroup of 313 inpatients and 310 healthy controls.

The results showed that patients with schizophrenia performed worse in all cognitive domains compared with healthy controls. Sex differences were observed in the cognitive performance of patients with TD. Specifically, male patients with TD had significantly lower scores in the visuospatial/constructional and attention subscales compared with those without TD; however, this difference was not observed in female patients. The study suggests that there may be sex differences in cognitive impairment among patients with schizophrenia with TD. It indicates that the female sex may have a protective effect against cognitive impairment caused by TD in patients with schizophrenia.

Reference: Zhang W, Wang D, Zhou H, Chen D, Xiu M, Cui L, Zhang X. Sex difference in association between Tardive Dyskinesia and cognitive deficits in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2023;255:140-147. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2023.03.034.