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Effects of alcohol and cigarette use on cognition in middle-aged adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2002

John A. Schinka*
Affiliation:
James A. Haley VA Medical Center, Tampa, Florida Department of Psychiatry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
Rodney D. Vanderploeg
Affiliation:
James A. Haley VA Medical Center, Tampa, Florida Department of Psychiatry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida Department of Neurology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
Miles Rogish
Affiliation:
James A. Haley VA Medical Center, Tampa, Florida Department of Clinical Psychology and Health, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Patricia Isbell Ordorica
Affiliation:
James A. Haley VA Medical Center, Tampa, Florida Department of Psychiatry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
*
John A. Schinka, Ph.D., Haley VA Medical Center0 116B, 13000 B.B. Downs Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33612. E-mail: jschinka@hsc.usf.edu
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Abstract

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In this retrospective cohort study we examined the independent and interactive effects of drinking and smoking on cognition in a sample of 3361 males, ages 31 to 49, with varying lifetime histories of alcohol and cigarette use. Dependent variables were neuropsychological measures of global and specific cognitive abilities. Comparison of the ability scores of seven groups, defined by their drinking and smoking histories, explained only 5.4% of the multivariate variance in cognitive ability and less than 2% in any individual cognitive measure. Regression analyses for current drinkers and smokers showed only a single significant, but negligible, effect of pack-years of smoking on a measure of global cognitive ability. Differences in cognitive function in groups defined by intensity of alcohol and cigarette use revealed no significant effect for drinking and a significant, but very small, effect for smoking.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2002