Funciones cognitivas en pacientes que consumen sustancias psicoactivas de comunidades terapéuticas

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to determine the most consumed psychoactive substances in patients in the therapeutic communities, to evaluate the presence of cognitive impairment in patients who consume psychoactive substances and to identify the cognitive functions preserved and affected in patients with cognitive impairment. This research is descriptive transversal with quantitative approach. The instruments applied are: Bender´s Test, The short neuropsychological evaluation in Spanish (NEUROPSI) and a questionnaire to collect information on sociodemographic variables. The participants are 43 male inmates from the Comunidad Terapéutica Hacia una Nueva Vida and the Centro de Tratamiento de Adicciones 12 Pasos. Data analysis was carried out using the SPSS Statistics 20 program. The results showed that the most consumed psychoactive substances, in order of preference are: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine base paste, cocaine hydrochloride and inhalants; the consumption of psychoactive substances causes mild cognitive impairment and moderate cognitive impairment and the main cognitive functions affected are: orientation, attention and concentration, coding memory, recall memory, language, reading, writing and executive functions.