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Lack of cognitive recovery following withdrawal from long-term benzodiazepine use

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

P. R. Tata ,
J. Rollings ,
M. Collins ,
A. Pickering  and
R. R. Jacobson
P. R. Tata*
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London; and Springfield University Hospital, London
J. Rollings
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London; and Springfield University Hospital, London
M. Collins
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London; and Springfield University Hospital, London
A. Pickering
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London; and Springfield University Hospital, London
R. R. Jacobson
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London; and Springfield University Hospital, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Philip R. Tata, Department of Psychology, St George's Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE.
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Synopsis

Twenty-one patients with significant long-term therapeutic benzodiazepine (BZ) use, who remained abstinent at 6 months follow-up after successfully completing a standardized inpatient BZ withdrawal regime, and 21 normal controls matched for age and IQ but not for anxiety, were repeatedly tested on a simple battery of routine psychometric tests of cognitive function, pre- and post-withdrawal and at 6 months follow-up. The results demonstrated significant impairment in patients in verbal learning and memory, psychomotor, visuo-motor and visuo-conceptual abilities, compared with controls, at all three time points. Despite practice effects, no evidence of immediate recovery of cognitive function following BZ withdrawal was found. Modest recovery of certain deficits emerged at 6 months follow-up in the BZ group, but this remained significantly below the equivalent control performance. The implications of persisting cognitive deficits after withdrawal from long-term BZ use are discussed.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 1994 , pp. 203 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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