Neuropsychological performance of methadone-maintained opiate users
Article
Article Title | Neuropsychological performance of methadone-maintained opiate users |
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ERA Journal ID | 14813 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Wang, Grace Y. (Author), Wouldes, Trecia A. (Author), Kydd, Rob (Author), Jensen, Maree (Author) and Russell, Bruce R. (Author) |
Journal Title | Journal of Psychopharmacology |
Journal Citation | 28 (8), pp. 789-799 |
Number of Pages | 11 |
Year | 2014 |
Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
ISSN | 0269-8811 |
1461-7285 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881114538541 |
Web Address (URL) | https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269881114538541 |
Abstract | Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) has been used to treat opiate dependence since the mid-1960s. Previous studies have investigated the effects of methadone on cognitive function however the findings have been inconsistent. Some report a complete absence of deficits while others report different types of cognitive impairment. Our research aimed to investigate the effects of MMT on cognitive function by comparing the performance of patients currently enrolled in MMT (n=32) with opiate-dependent subjects (n=17) and healthy control subjects (n=25) on a computerised neuropsychological test battery. Both the patients undertaking MMT and the opiate users showed less efficient interaction between visual searching and manually connecting digits and letters during the Switching of Attention Task than the healthy control subjects (F(2,64)=3.25, p=0.05), which indicates deficits in information processing. Nevertheless, the performance of the MMT group was similar to that of healthy control subjects in all other tasks, in contrast to the group of opiate users who performed poorly when compared to healthy control subjects during tests of attention (mean difference (MD)=2.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.9-4.7), p=0.001) and executive function (MD=5.9, 95% CI (1.3-10.5), p=0.007). These findings suggest that cognitive function in patients undertaking MMT is improved compared to those dependent on illicit opiates. |
Keywords | cognitive impairment; Methadone maintenance; neuropsychological function; opiates |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 520205. Psychopharmacology |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | University of Auckland, New Zealand |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q7517/neuropsychological-performance-of-methadone-maintained-opiate-users
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