Predicting denial function of schizophrenic patients by the picture completion subtest of WAIS-R

Abstract

In the previous study, picture completion (PC) test scores of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R) were negatively associated with recognition of mental illness measured by Schedule for the Assessment of Insight (SAI). Therefore, it can be hypothesized that function measured by the PC test is positively associated with denial function. To investigate this hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between two picture tests (picture completion and picture arrangement) of the WAIS-R and denial function tests (lie scale, frequency scale and correction scale) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) in 26 schizophrenic patients. As a result, the lie scale score and the correction scale score were positively and significantly associated with picture completion whereas no scale score was significantly associated with picture arrangement. The present findings suggest that the positive association between function measured by the PC test and denial function measured by lie and correction scale scores. Further studies are warranted to investigate the usefulness of the PC test for the measurement of denial function in schizophrenia.