Date Presented 03/28/20
Through this study, we can understand the effects of different alcohol addiction severities on the inhibition control of patients with alcohol-use disorders. Clinical staff members should consider the severity of the alcohol addiction in this clinical population and improve the executive function of the patients by reducing the severity of the alcohol addiction, thereby alleviating the limitation in daily living.
Primary Author and Speaker: Chun-Hua Cheng
Contributing Authors: Chewn-Yng Su, Ming-De Chen
BACKGROUND: Cognitive deficits are ubiquitous in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) that may adversely affect their activities of daily living and social functioning. Of these, executive dysfunction is the most frequent. The majority of previous research has examined the relationship between the amount of alcohol consumption and overall executive functioning in this clinical group, little has focused on the effect of differing severity of AUD on specific domains of the executive functions.
PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate differences in inhibitory control among AUD patients in three different severity (mild, moderate, and severe) groups.
METHODS: Patients who met the study inclusion criteria were recruited: (1) diagnosis of AUD according to DSM-5 criteria based on a clinical interview with the patient’s attending psychiatrist, (2) age range 45 to 65, (3) abstinence from alcohol for at least 2 weeks prior to participating in the study, and (4) no drug therapy for alcohol dependence in the past 2 weeks. The total score of the Chinese version of the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire was used to classify patients into one of three severity categories: mild (< 16), moderate (16∼30), and severe (>30). Patients were administered the Stroop Color Word Test (SCWT), a measure of inhibitory control. Results were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc Bonferroni tests.
RESULTS: There were 30 patients in the mild AUD group, 30 patients in the moderate group, and 30 patients in the severe group. One-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant difference between the three severity groups (F =54.099, p < 0.001). Post hoc contrasts indicated that patients with mild AUD outperformed those in the moderate group, who in turn outperformed those in the severe group. These differences were significant with large effect sizes (mild vs. moderate Cohen’s d = 0.8; mild vs. severe Cohen’s d = 2.8; moderate vs. severe Cohen’s d = 1.9).
DISCUSSION: Alcohol addiction had a substantial impact on patients’ inhibitory control. It was of utmost importance for clinicians to design treatment programs that explicitly target inhibitory control, especially for patients with moderate and severe AUD to prevent the occurrence of dangerous behaviors.
KEYWORD: alcohol use disorder, inhibitory control, Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire-Chinese version
References
Adhikari, S., Rana, M., Shakya, S., & Ojha, S. P. (2016). Cognitive Dysfunctions in Patients with Alcohol Dependence Syndrome. Journal of Nepal Medical Association,54(201), 17-23.
Bernardin, F., Maheut-Bosser, A., & Paille, F. (2014). Cognitive Impairments in alcohol-dependent subjects. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 16, 1-6.
