To Study the Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment in Alcohol Dependence

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Present study aimed to evaluates the cognitive status among dependent patients and effect of abstinence from alcohol for one month. Materials and methods: Study included 50 alcohol dependent male inpatients and a similar number of age and education matched controls. Specially designed semi-structured proforma was used to collect demographical data. Cognitive functions were evaluated by Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh Battery of Brain dysfunction (PGI-BBD). Assessment by similar method was done in both cases (at baseline and 1 month after abstinence/treatment) and controls. Data was analyzed by SPSS ver. 21.0. Results: Significant cognitive dysfunction was seen in all domains among alcoholics as compared to controls (p<0.05). Post-treatment/ abstinence improvement was seen in all domains except recent memory, mental balance, immediate and delayed recall, retention for similar and dissimilar pairs. Performance quotient impairment was seen in 40 (80%), 18 (36%) and 12 (24%) in pre-treatment, post-treatment and control group respectively. Further PQ evaluation revealed that mean scores of 69.54, 82.82 and 91.08 (p<0.05; all groups). Increase in years of consuming alcohol of study group is associated with more cognitive impairment in memory and intelligence. Conclusion: Present study had validated the assumption that there is significant cognitive impairment among alcohol dependent cases. These deficits can be detected with formal neuropsychological assessment Awareness of alcohol’s effects on cognition can help health-care providers in addressing the problem and instituting appropriate treatment.