Clinical Measures

Psychiatric symptoms and the cognitive function of patients were evaluated by several independent experienced psychiatrists by using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), respectively. The MCCB consists of nine standardized cognitive tests which reflect seven domains of cognitive function, namely the speed of processing [Trail Making Test: part A (TMT), Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia: symbol coding (BACS SC), and category fluency: animal (Animal fluency)], attention/vigilance (Continuous Performance Test, CPT), working memory (digital sequence and Wechsler Memory Scale Spatial Span, WMS III), verbal learning and memory [Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R)], visual learning and memory (Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised, BVMT-R), reasoning and problem solving (Neuropsychological Assessment Battery, NAB), and social cognition (Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, MSCEIT). In the last few years, the MCCB has been translated into Chinese and was widely used in both healthy individuals and schizophrenia patients (Shi et al., 2015, 2019). All cognitive assessments were performed in strict accordance with the instruction manual of the tools by trained personnel. All test scores were adjusted according to Chinese standards for age, gender, and education level and converted into T-scores.

When patients were enrolled to the study, their corresponding waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), systolic pressure (SP), and diastolic pressure (DP) were also collected.