A Pilot Study of Memory Impairment Associated with Discrepancies between Retrospective and Daily Recall of Alcohol Consumption

Abstract

Prior studies have found discrepancies between daily report and retrospective recall of alcohol use. One possible explanation is that there may be an association between memory impairment and alcohol consumption recall errors. Should this possibility be substantiated it could have implications for the types of assessments conducted in alcohol treatment trials. The current study evaluated the degree to which memory impairment, as measured by the California Verbal Learning Test-II, predicted day-to-day discrepancies between daily Interactive Voice Response monitoring and retrospective recall of alcohol use assessed with a 42-day version of the Form-90. Significant differences were detected in absolute difference in days drinking across the two measurement methods between participants scoring above and below population means on two measures of immediate memory ability. Correlations between the absolute difference in days drinking and immediate memory ability and long-delay memory indices approached significance. There were no significant associations between memory indices and discrepancies in reports of standard drink units. These preliminary results suggest that verbal memory difficulties common in this population may result in inaccurate reports of days drinking for some individuals.

Degree of correspondence between daily monitoring and retrospective recall of alcohol use among men and women with comorbid AUD and PTSD

“…, we also found that men's degree of correspondence increased for all of the drinking indices over the 5 weeks, and most notably for standard drinks. Given that findings indicated greater discrepancies for men even after controlling for total drinks, it is possible that long‐term effects of heavier drinking, such as memory impairment, are contributing to these gender differences, though data were not available regarding the duration of individuals’ heavy drinking.…”

“…This study also extends previous research suggesting that individuals who drink more tend to produce greater discrepancies between retrospective recall and daily monitoring, and provides preliminary evidence that gender may also explain between‐person variability in the degree of correspondence. As such, future research should continue to assess other moderating variables, such as memory impairment, clinical comorbidities, and other individual difference factors that may influence degree of correspondence.…”

Measuring illness insight in patients with alcohol-related cognitive dysfunction using the Q8 questionnaire: a validation study

“… 11 , 12 That is, patients typically underestimate the amount of alcohol they have used and the duration of their alcohol addiction, and they also misjudge the severe and adverse consequences of alcohol addiction on daily life and health functioning. 13 – 15 Impaired illness insight can be regarded as a continuum ranging from total denial of the disease to more subtle metacognitive awareness deficits. 11 Illness insight comprises of awareness of illness, the capacity to view symptoms of the disease as pathological, and treatment adherence.…”

“… 26 – 29 Moreover, these alcohol-related cognitive deficits can affect the results of self-report questionnaires in such a way that it can lead to clinical misinterpretation. 13 , 30 – 32 In order to avoid this misinterpretation of alcohol-related cognitive deficits, the combined use of self-reported information and information reported by informants who know the patient very well is essential for adequate diagnosis and in particular for the assessment of impaired self-awareness.…”

Neurocognitive parameters should be incorporated in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory‐2 assessment of patients with alcohol use disorders

“…That cognitive dysfunctions can influence self‐report is also shown in a recent study with alcohol‐dependent patients by Lincoln et al . [74]. They found impairments in the estimation and self‐evaluation of past alcohol intake that could be attributed to verbal memory dysfunctions contingent upon chronic alcohol abuse.…”