The effects of gender and a co-occurring depressive disorder on neurocognitive functioning in patients with alcohol dependence.
OBJECTIVE
The present study aims to examine neuropsychological impairments by comorbidity and gender among patients with alcohol dependence.


METHODS
The study sample is comprised of 123 subjects who fulfilled a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition (DSM-IV) diagnosis of alcohol dependence from January 2006 to December 2007. Subjects were asked to complete the following psychological tests: the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Wechsler Memory Scale and Color Trails Test. We compared the results of neuropsychological assessments based on two types of classifications: people with comorbid depression and people without comorbidity; females and males.


RESULTS
The immediate visual memory and the BIS scores in patients with comorbid depression were significantly different from the scores in patients without comorbidity. In addition, females performed significantly poorer on the Working Memory Index than males and had a later age of regular drinking.


CONCLUSIONS
Further investigation of the mechanism associated with the gender difference on cognition and exploration of the temporal relationship between alcohol dependence and depressive disorder on the cognitive aspect is needed.
Liu
I-Chao
IC
Department of Psychiatry, Cardinal Tien Hospital and School of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, No. 362 Zhongzheng Rd., Xindian City, Taipei County 231, Taiwan.
Chiu
Chen-Huan
CH
Yang
Tsung-Tsair
TT
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors