MONDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) -- Female alcoholics show greater cognitive deficits than do male alcoholics who have been alcohol-dependent for the same length of time, according to a study in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Barbara A. Flannery, Ph.D., of RTI International in Baltimore, and colleagues compared how 78 males and 24 females from Russia who were alcohol-dependent, in addition to 68 non-alcoholic controls, performed on a battery of neurocognitive tests that assessed motor speed, visuoperceptual processing, visuospatial processing, decision making and cognitive flexibility. The subjects were aged 18 to 40 years.
The female alcoholics performed worse on the tests of visual working memory, spatial planning, problem solving and cognitive flexibility, the investigators found. In general, the female alcoholic subjects were younger and had fewer years of alcohol dependence than the male alcoholics.
"The results support the few studies conducted in other countries that have found that women's neurocognitive functioning is more compromised than men's as a result of alcohol abuse and that the observed deficits occur with a shorter history of drinking and alcohol dependence," the study authors conclude. As a result, "it may be wise for clinicians to consider the potential differences in the cognitive status of men and women entering treatment to adjust for cognitive problems that may impede the recovery process."
Abstract
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