Cognitive impairment in Aboriginal people with heavy episodic patterns of alcohol use.

BACKGROUND: With chronic alcohol abuse, cognitive studies suggest that progressive cognitive decline may precede more serious and irreversible neurological syndromes. The early detection of cognitive impairment may therefore aid in the prevention of permanent brain damage. Despite the devastating co...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Addiction Vol. 102; no. 6; pp. 909 - 916
Autores principales: Cairney S, Clough A, Jaragba M, Maruff P
Formato: research Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2007
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=106011267&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 106011267
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        09652140
        AIO
      jtl: Addiction
      issn: 09652140
      maglogo: Y
    pubinfo:
      dt: Jun2007
      vid: 102
      iid: 6
      pid: 480
      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
      place: Malden, Massachusetts
    artinfo:
      ui:
        106011267
        106011267
        2009726089
        10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.01840.x
        NLM17523985
        106011267
      ppf: 909
      ppct: 7
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
      tig:
        atl: Cognitive impairment in Aboriginal people with heavy episodic patterns of alcohol use.
      aug:
        au:
          Cairney S
          Clough A
          Jaragba M
          Maruff P
      sug:
        subj:
          Aboriginal Australians
          Alcohol Drinking
          Cognition Disorders Etiology
          Psychomotor Disorders Etiology
          Substance Use Disorders Etiology
          Adolescence
          Adult
          Case Control Studies
          Female
          Male
          Substance Use Disorders Ethnology
          Human
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Female
          Male
      ab: BACKGROUND: With chronic alcohol abuse, cognitive studies suggest that progressive cognitive decline may precede more serious and irreversible neurological syndromes. The early detection of cognitive impairment may therefore aid in the prevention of permanent brain damage. Despite the devastating consequences of alcohol abuse among Aboriginal Australians, the effects on brain function have never been studied in this population and a lack of appropriate assessment tools has prevented the development of such research. AIMS: To determine the impact of long-term and heavy episodic alcohol use on cognitive function in Aboriginal people. DESIGN: Cross-sectional comparing heavy episodic alcohol users with non-alcohol users. SETTING: Two remote Aboriginal communities in north-east Arnhem Land, northern Australia. SUBJECTS: The control group consisted of 24 non-drinkers (15 males, nine female) and the heavy episodic group consisted of 20 people (19 males, one female) who had been drinking alcohol in a heavy episodic style (median 14 drinks per occasion) for a mean of 8.9 years (SD = 5.0). MEASUREMENTS: Interview to obtain demographic information, substance abuse history and symptoms of mental health and wellbeing, together with a computerized cognitive assessment battery (CogState Ltd). FINDINGS: Compared with non-drinkers, heavy episodic drinkers showed reduced psychomotor speed (P = 0.04) and reduced accuracy when performing tasks of attention (P = 0.045), working memory (P = 0.04), implicit memory (P = 0.03) and associate learning and memory (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Specific cognitive abnormalities that suggest frontostriatal abnormalities and have been observed in association with chronic alcoholism in other populations were observed among Aboriginal Australians who were heavy episodic alcoholic users.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N