title: Performance of recently detoxified patients with alcoholism on a neuropsychological screening test.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Early in recovery from alcoholism, cognitive deficits may compromise patients' utilization of rehabilitative information. Cognitive impairment in a sample of newly detoxified inpatients with alcoholism was examined using the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutively admitted psychiatric inpatients (N=233) with an alcohol-related primary diagnosis (63% male, mean age 46.3) were administered the NCSE following medical stabilization. Within-samples differences between age and diagnostic groups were examined and scores were compared to normative samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Inpatients older than 50 demonstrated significant cognitive deficits for all scales except Attention. In comparison with normative samples, patients with alcoholism produced lower scores, with the most pronounced deficits among middle-aged patients. In alcohol-abusing patients with medical comorbidities, language deficits and more severe memory deficits were observed. Abuse severity or comorbid psychiatric disorder produced no differences in NCSE scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neuropsychological screening following detoxification in patients diagnosed with an alcohol disorder reflected the effects of increased age and medical comorbidity. Our finding of frequent deficits in abstraction, comprehension, and memory suggests that cognitive-behavioral treatments for inpatients may be less effective if cognitive impairment is not considered.
authors.affiliation: Health Services Research and Development, Building 16, Room 55, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center (152), 508 Fulton Street, Durham, NC 27705, USA. zinn0001@mc.duke.edu
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zinn
authors.forename: Hayden B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Bosworth
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Patrick E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Logue
authors.forename: H Scott
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Swartzwelder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*