The Effects of Alcoholism Comorbidity on Neurocognitive Function Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Alcoholism and traumatic brain injury (TBI) often produce neuropsychological deficits. However, the extent and manner by which these factors interact is unclear. In this study, it was hypothesized that alcoholism would have compounding cognitive effects in individuals with TBI and alcoholism. Participants were divided into three groups, including a patient comparison (PC) group and groups with TBI with or without alcoholism histories. Participants were administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised and major components of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery. Comparing the groups on test performance, the TBI groups performed significantly worse than the PC group but did not significantly differ from each other. Thus, the effects of TBI on cognitive function overshadow preexisting deficits from the alcoholism.

Alcohol Consumption Does not Impede Recovery from Mild to Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury

“…It is possible that the duration and recency of pre-injury alcohol use influences its relationship with TBI outcome (Stavro, Pelletier, & Potvin, 2013). Most prior studies classified participants into pre-injury alcohol use categories without consideration of duration or recency (Allen et al, 2009;Barker et al, 1999;O'Dell et al, 2012;Wilde et al, 2004) or measured alcohol use only in the 1-12 months immediately preceding TBI (De Guise et al, 2009;Dikmen et al, 1993;Ponsford et al, 2013;Turner et al, 2006;Vickery et al, 2008). Neither methodology produced consistent findings.…”