Reversibility of cognitive deficit in alcoholics.

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Abstract
Twenty-seven of the 38 men alcoholics and 27 of the 38 matched controls tested previously on the Brain-Age Quotient (BAQ) were retested an average of 14 mo. later. There were no significant differences in the age and educational level of retested and other alcoholics and in those of retested and other controls. At retest, there was a significant difference (P < 0.005) in the alcoholics'' (94.5) and controls'' (108.4) mean BAQ (which compares performance on the Halstead Category Test, the Tactual Performance Test, part B of the Trail Making Test [TMT] and the block design and digit symbol subtests of the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale with performance on the information, comprehension, similarities and vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler-Bellevue Scale). There was also a significant difference (P < 0.001) in the alcoholics'' and controls'' improvement in performance between the 2 testings, the alcoholics'' improvement from a mean BAQ of 88.1 (vs. the controls'' original mean of 102.7) being accounted for primarily by their performance on the block design and digit symbol subtests and part B of the TMT. None of the differences in their level of improvement in BAQ were related to drinking level. Test-retest scores of the 12 hospitalized and 15 nonhospitalized controls showed a significant improvement (from 108-113; P < 0.01) in the mean BAQ of nonhospitalized controls. The retest scores of 7 alcoholics who had remained abstinent during the test-retest interval were not significantly different from test scores of 7 alcoholics who had not been tested earlier but who had been abstinent for a comparable period of time.

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