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VOLUME 24 , ISSUE 1 ( January-June, 2024 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

Neuropsychological Functioning in Patients with Opioids Dependence during Early Abstinence: A Comparative Study

S TM Muhammed, Neha Sayeed, Vikas Kumar

Keywords : Opioid dependence, Perceptual reasoning, Processing speed, Verbal comprehension, Working memory

Citation Information : Muhammed ST, Sayeed N, Kumar V. Neuropsychological Functioning in Patients with Opioids Dependence during Early Abstinence: A Comparative Study. 2024; 24 (1):9-15.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-11001-0074

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 08-06-2024

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2024; The Author(s).


Abstract

Background: People with opioid dependence have various effects, especially in the areas of psychological, physiological, and social functioning. Aim: To study the improvement in neuropsychological functioning of patients with opioid dependence during early abstinence. Materials and methods: The study focused on 15 patients with chronic and acute opioid dependence each. Samples were taken after the detoxification period of 2 weeks. The clinical opiate withdrawal scale (COWS) was applied to rule out mild-to-severe withdrawal symptoms, and the severity dependence scale was applied to determine the severity of opioid dependence. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)-IV India was administered twice to both groups, just after the detoxification period and at the time of discharge. Results and discussion: The result indicates that both groups showed a significant difference in neuropsychological functioning from baseline to discharge. Scores on verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, processing speed, and intellectual functioning among acute opioid users improved significantly from baseline to discharge, whereas the chronic users showed a decrease in their perceptual reasoning over time. Conclusion: Acute opioid users showed significant improvement in neuropsychological functioning over time, whereas chronic users took time to recover their neuropsychological functioning.

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