J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1993; 5:254-259
Copyright © 1993 by American Neuropsychiatric Association
Drug and alcohol use and neuropsychological performance in asymptomatic HIV infection
RA Bornstein, R Fama, P Rosenberger, CC Whitacre, MF Para, HA Nasrallah and RJ Fass
Department of Psychiatry, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
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.
