Cognition heavily relies on social determinants and genetic background. Latin America comprises approximately 8% of the global population and faces unique challenges, many derived from specific demographic and socioeconomic variables, such as violence and inequality. While such factors have been described to influence mental health outcomes, no large-scale studies with Latin American population have been carried out. Therefore, we aim to describe the cognitive performance of a representative sample of Latin American individuals with schizophrenia and its relationship to clinical factors. Additionally, we aim to investigate how socioeconomic status (SES) relates to cognitive performance in patients and controls.

We included 1175 participants from five Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico): 864 individuals with schizophrenia and 311 unaffected subjects. All participants were part of projects that included cognitive evaluation with MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery and clinical assessments.

Patients showed worse cognitive performance than controls across all domains. Age and diagnosis were independent predictors, indicating similar trajectories of cognitive aging for both patients and controls. The SES factors of education, parental education, and income were more related to cognition in patients than in controls. Cognition was also influenced by symptomatology.

Patients did not show evidence of accelerated cognitive aging; however, they were most impacted by a lower SES suggestive of deprived environment than controls. These findings highlight the vulnerability of cognitive capacity in individuals with psychosis in face of demographic and socioeconomic factors in low- and middle-income countries.

Cognition heavily relies on social determinants and genetic background. Latin America comprises approximately 8% of the global population and faces unique challenges, many derived from specific demographic and socioeconomic variables, such as violence and inequality. While such factors have been described to influence mental health outcomes, no large-scale studies with Latin American population have been carried out. Therefore, we aim to describe the cognitive performance of a representative sample of Latin American individuals with schizophrenia and its relationship to clinical factors. Additionally, we aim to investigate how socioeconomic status (SES) relates to cognitive performance in patients and controls.

我们纳入了来自五个拉丁美洲国家（阿根廷、巴西、智利、哥伦比亚和墨西哥）的 1175 名参与者：864 名精神分裂症患者和 311 名未受影响的受试者。所有参与者都参与了包括使用 MATRICS 共识认知电池进行认知评估和临床评估的项目。

患者在所有领域的认知表现都比对照组差。年龄和诊断是独立的预测因素，表明患者和对照组的认知老化轨迹相似。与对照组相比，教育、父母教育和收入等 SES 因素与患者认知的相关性更高。认知也受到症状学的影响。

患者没有表现出加速认知老化的证据；然而，与对照组相比，他们受到的影响最大的是较低的 SES，这表明被剥夺的环境。这些发现凸显了低收入和中等收入国家面对人口和社会经济因素时精神病患者认知能力的脆弱性。