European Psychiatry - Volume 33 - March 2016

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S156 24th European Congress of Psychiatry / European Psychiatry 33S (2016) S116–S348
Study design Initial evaluation of patients was carried out at the
first call, prior to the neurocognitive training. Follow-up study was
conducted one month after completion of training programs and
the final examination, after a year. In the comparison, group surveys
were conducted with the similar frequency.
Results After training, the cognitive processes in schizophrenia
patientswere obtained by increasing the tempo of the performance,
improving concentration, improving the adequacy of long-term
thinking and memory have identified trend towards an increase
in operational short-term memory. According to the survey indi-
cated, with an increase in all indicators (the difference with the
control group ranged from 3 to 26%), the maximum improvement
falls on visual memory, and minimal attention to the function.
Conclusion The neurocognitive training showed itself as an effec-
tive method of correcting neurocognitive deficits.
Disclosure of interest The authors have not supplied their decla-
ration of competing interest.
EW118
Is empathy correlated to patients’
level of cognitive impairment in
schizophrenia?
R. Trabelsi ∗, A. Arous , J. Mrizak , H. Ben Ammar , A. Khalifa ,
Z. El Hechmi
Razi Hospital, Department Psychiatry F, Mannouba, Tunisia
∗ Corresponding author.
Introduction Empathy, which refers to the ability to understand
and share the thoughts and feelings of others, may be compromised
in schizophrenia (SCZ). Yet the relationship between empathy and
neurocognitive functioning remains unclear.
Objectives To explore whether cognitive and affective empathy
are associated with the neurocognitive functioning in SCZ.
Methods Fifty-eight outpatients with stable SCZ completed the
Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE) com-
prising five subscales intended to assess cognitive and affective
components of empathy. They also completed a neurocogni-
tive battery comprising the following tests: the Hopkins Verbal
Learning Test–Revised (HVLT-R), the Letter Digit Substitution Test
(LDST), the Stroop Test (ST), the “Double Barrage” of Zazzo (DBZ),
the Modified Card Sorting Test (MCST), Verbal Fluency (VF), the
Trail Making Test-Part A (TMT-A) and the Digit Span (DS).
Results Better affective and cognitive empathy correlated with
better performance in the ST (less hesitations and less errors).
Patients with better cognitive empathy performed better in the
MCST (more categories achieved; P = 0.029) and in the LDST (more
substitutions per minute; P = 0.031).
Conclusions Our results bolster support for the presence of an
association between NF and the decreased cognitive and affective
empathy in schizophrenia.
Disclosure of interest The authors have not supplied their decla-
ration of competing interest.
EW119
Clinical symptomatology and empathy
in schizophrenia: Which relationship?
R. Trabelsi ∗ rizak , A. Arous , H. Ben Ammar , A. Khalifa ,
Z. El Hechmi
Razi Hospital, Department Psychiatry F, Mannouba, Tunisia
∗ Corresponding author.
Introduction The impairment of cognitive and affective empathy
among patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) may represent a signifi-
cant feature of the illness. However, the relationship between those
impairment and dimensions of psychosis remains unclear.
Objectives To explore whether cognitive and affective empathy
are associated with severety of different psychotic symptoms.
Methods Cognitive and affective empathy were evaluated in 58
patients with stable schizophrenia with the Questionnaire of Cog-
nitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE) comprising five subscales
intended to assess cognitive and affective components of empathy.
Symptomatology evaluation comprised the Positive and Nega-
tive Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for
Schizophrenia (CDSS) and the Clinical Global Impressions Scale
Improvement and severity (CGI).
Results Patients with better cognitive empathy had less total
CDSS scores (P = 0.036, r= −0.449) and lower CGI-severity scale
scores (P = 0.01, r = −0.536). Patients with better affective empa-
thy had lower scores (which means a better improvement) at the
CGI-improvement scale (P = 0.03, r =−0.461).
Conclusions Our results suggest that empathy with its different
component is not totally independent of the clinical state of the
patient. Further studies are required to confirm whether empathy
deficits are state or trait aspects of SCZ.
Disclosure of interest The authors have not supplied their decla-
ration of competing interest.
Comorbidity/Dual pathologies
EW120
Depressive symptoms in patients with
schizophrenia
T. Aladashvili
Tbilisi, Georgia
Introduction Depression is common among patients with
schizophrenia and is associated with a wide range of poor out-
comes, including psychotic relapse and suicide. The aim of the
study is to evaluate the presence of depressive symptoms in
patients with schizophrenia and to compare depression intensity
in schizophrenic patients and patients with depressive disorder.
Methods In this cross sectional study were included 40 patients
from both genders. Patients were divided in 2 groups: (1) exam-
ined group: 20 schizophrenic patients who presented depressive
symptomatology. Depressive symptoms-evaluated with the 17-
item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Inclusion criteria:
schizophrenic disorder by ICD-10 (F20.0-F20.9), total score higher
than 7 on the HRSD-17 and age between 25 and 65; (2) control
group: 20 patients with depressive disorder. Inclusion criteria:
recurrent depressive disorder by ICD-10 (F33.0-F33.9), total score
higher than 7 on the HRSD-17 and age between 25 and 65.
Psychiatric rating scales for clinical evaluation of prominence of
symptomatology: 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression
(HRSD-17) and PANSS (Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale).
Results The prevalence of patients with depressive symptoms
among the schizophrenic patients was 45% i.e. out of 20 evaluated
patients with schizophrenia, 9 showed depressive symptoms. The
total score in the remaining 11 patients on the HRSD-17 was lower
than 7 and they were excluded. Difference between the two groups
for gender difference was not statistically significant.
Conclusions The percentage of patients with depressive symp-
toms among the patients with schizophrenic disorder was 45%.
Schizophrenic patients more frequently presented mild and mod-
erate depression in comparison to the control group. In themajority
of subjects with schizophrenia and depressive symptoms positive
schizophrenic symptomatology was predominant.
Disclosure of interest The author has not supplied his/her decla-
ration of competing interest.