https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8225-9304
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ABSTRACT
Background
Patients entering substance use disorder treatment perceive the quality of life as low and have high levels of psychological distress. Some suffer from impaired cognitive functioning. The prevalence of traumatic experiences is high. We aimed to determine whether there had been improvements from admission to discharge and explore the relationships between the improvements and experiences of traumatic abuse.
Methods
We recruited 138 inpatients from long-term treatment for substance use disorders in Norway. 98 participants completed the questionnaires on quality of life, psychological distress, and cognitive functioning at admission and discharge.
Results
We found significant improvements in quality of life and cognitive functioning, and the psychological distress decreased from admission to discharge. Patients with experiences of traumatic abuse improved less in cognitive functioning.
Conclusion
Measurements of quality of life, psychological distress, and cognitive functioning may be useful to assess improvements during treatment. Health providers must be aware of the high prevalence of mild cognitive impairment and psychological distress, and low quality of life in patients at admission to treatment. Patients with experiences of traumatic abuse improved less in cognitive functioning and treatment should target this, as it could hinder drop-out and enhance the success of substance use disorder treatment.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the patients who consented to participate in this study and acknowledge the treatment staff at the facilities who helped with collecting data.
Disclosure statement
The authors are employed by the Tyrili foundation. The foundation did not have any significant influences on the data collection, analysis, or writing the manuscript.