The effect of drug and alcohol abuse on neuropsychological performance
was examined in 132 human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive gay or
bisexual men. Syndromal (diagnostic) criteria of alcohol/drug abuse based
on DSM-III-R were used, and quantitative estimates of alcohol consumption
were obtained. Very few differences appeared between substance abuse
subgroups formed on the basis of recency or severity of drug use. There
were some correlations with the quantitative estimate of alcohol use, but
not on the measures previously found to differentiate seronegative and
asymptomatic seropositive gay men. These data indicate that alcohol use
does affect neuropsychological performance but does not account for the
differences observed in studies of seronegative and seropositive
subjects.
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