Evaluation of Different Dimensions of Attentional Functions of Opium Abusers with Short- or Long-Term Abstinent Periods

Substance abusers have deficit in attention. Primacy and recency of drug abuse and attentional deficit have always been open to discussion. One way of evaluating this subject is to evaluate abusers with long- and short-term abstinent. The purpose of the present study was to compare attentional functions of addict with short-term and long-term abstinent. In this cross-sectional study, 60 opium abusers in their abstinent periods participated from one NGO. They were divided into two groups of short-term (less than 6 months) and long-term (above 6 months) abstinent, and were compared through the Stroop, the Continuous Performance, and the Shifting Attention tests. Data were analyzed through Independent T Test with SPSS Software (version 17). The reaction time of the third stage of the Stroop Test was significantly higher among the long-term than the short-term abstinent group (P<0.05). Long-term abstinent group had higher performance in sustaining attention (P<0.05) and shifting attention (P<0.05). There were no differences in preservation error in both groups (p> 0.05). Based on these findings, we conclude that duration of abstinent is effective in attentional functions, and remediation of cognitive functions does occur after abstinent.