Discriminative utility of a brief cognitive status assessment with alcoholics and the impact of cognitive status on acquisition of treatment-relevant information.

Assessed the discriminative utility of a brief assessment procedure for quantifying cognitive status in alcoholics and the impact of existing cognitive status on acquisition of information presented during treatment. 112 male patients (aged 20–77 yrs), consecutively admitted to an inpatient alcohol treatment program, were assessed at admission and discharge. The 30-min assessment protocol included the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task (M. D. Lezak, 1983), portions of the Wechsler Memory Scale, and a brief structured interview that assessed treatment-relevant knowledge. These measures were able to differentiate performance levels related to age and drinking history. Recent drinking behavior and cognitive function may only moderately influence acquisition of treatment program content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)