Carolien Zeetsen

80 The first aim of the present study was to explore 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 ARCI (but no KS), and patients with KS. It was hypothesised that patients with AUD–only showed the highest overall cognitive performance, followed by patients with ARCI and those with KS respectively. Furthermore, we expected that between clinical admission, when abstinence is not always guaranteed, and after six weeks of admission, all three groups would show an improved cognitive performance, where patients with AUD–only were hypothesized to have a near–ceiling score on the MoCA. Between six weeks of admission and clinical discharge, patients with ARCI were expected to have improved further, while cognitive performance in patients with AUD–only and KS was expected to have stayed relatively stable. The second aim was to explore the course of everyday cognitive functioning in patients with AUD–only, ARCI or KS, as measured with the Patient Competency Rating Scale (PCRS; Prigatano et al., 1986). The PCRS is a rating scale that can be completed by both the patient and a clinician who is familiar with the patient and his/her abilities. The PCRS primarily aims to evaluate an individual’s awareness of cognitive, self–care, and social deficits. The possibility to have the questionnaire assessed by both the patient and a clinician makes it possible to map everyday cognitive functioning during treatment from a clinical viewpoint. Everyday cognitive functioning was hypothesized to be best for patients with AUD–only, followed by patients with ARCI and those with KS respectively. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that everyday cognitive functioning was better at clinical discharge than at six weeks of admission in patients with AUD–only and those with ARCI, according to both the patient and the clinician. The reported improvement was expected to be greater according to the clinician than according to the patient. The third aim was to determine if changes in cognitive performance (MoCA) were related to changes in everyday cognitive functioning (PCRS), between the sixth week of admission and clinical discharge. It was hypothesized that these changes were positively correlated and that the correlations were highest for the clinician ratings.