Carolien Zeetsen

25 CHAPTER General introduction 1 Questions that will be answered: ⋅ What is, at intake, the prevalence of cognitive impairments in patients using different substances? ⋅ Are there differences in cognitive performance across substances per cognitive domain? ⋅ What are the effects of age, abstinence, abstinence duration, polysubstance use, duration of regular use, severity of dependence/abuse, depression, anxiety and stress on cognitive functioning in SUD. Chapter 5 will provide a closer look at the course of cognitive performance and everyday cognitive functioning in patients with alcohol use disorder with or without NCD. Questions that will be answered: ⋅ What is the course of cognitive performance on the MoCA during treatment towards abstinence and recovery in three patient groups with AUD: patients with AUD without cognitive impairments, patients with alcohol–related cognitive impairments (ARCI), and patients with KS? ⋅ What is the course of everyday cognitive functioning in these three patient groups, as measured with the Patient Competency Rating Scale (PCRS)? ⋅ Are changes in cognitive performance (MoCA) related to changes in everyday cognitive functioning (PCRS) between the sixth week of admission and clinical discharge? In Chapter 6, the MoCA will be used to examine if cognitive impairments predict relapse in patients with GHB use disorder. Questions that will be answered: ⋅ What is the association between cognitive impairment, the number of GHB–induced comas and severity of GHB use? ⋅ What is the association between cognitive impairment and relapse in GHB use after detoxification? Finally, in Chapter 7 the findings of my thesis will be summarized and discussed and a perspective for clinical practice and future research will be provided.