| Dementia and substance abuse are two disorders commonly associated with memory dysfunction. Although no other study has directly compared these two groups, research suggests that memory impairment in an early stage of dementia is more severe than the subtle deficits observed in substance abuse recovery. This study examined immediate, delayed, and working memory impairment in 24 patients from the Veterans' Administration hospital in Buffalo, NY using the Immediate Memory, General Memory, and Working Memory Indexes of the Wechsler Memory Scale - III. Sixteen patients were diagnosed as experiencing an early stage of dementia and nine were recovering from alcohol abuse alone or alcohol abuse coupled with other substance abuse. As a requirement for participation, all participants in the substance abuse group also exhibited some cognitive impairment according to the Mini Mental State Exam. The two groups were similar with respect to mental status, education, gender, and ethnicity. Results indicate that both groups demonstrated notable impairment (1--2 standard deviations below the mean) on all three variables, but the early dementia group exhibited significantly greater working memory impairment (p < .05) than the substance abuse group. The two groups exhibited comparable immediate and delayed memory impairment. Due to the small sample size, further research is required to substantiate the results of this study. However, these results suggest that working memory functioning may provide useful clues in determining if memory impairment in recovering substance abusers is resultant from substance abuse or from dementia. This information is essential in assuring that these patients receive appropriate treatment. |
