Differentiating people with schizophrenia from healthy controls in a developing Country: An evaluation of portable functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as an adjunct diagnostic tool.

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device as an adjunct diagnostic tool in Vietnam to assess hemodynamics when people with schizophrenia and healthy controls performed cognitive tasks.

Methods: One hundred fifty-seven participants were divided into schizophrenia ( = 110) and healthy controls group ( = 47), which were recruited by match of age, and gender. Hemodynamic responses in the frontal cortex were monitored with a 48-channel portable device during the Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT) and Verbal Fluency Test (VFT).