Impact of At Least 2 Years of Synthetic Cannabinoid Use on Cognitive and Psychomotor Functions Among Treatment-Seeking Male Outpatients

Gokhan Umut; Cuneyt Evren; Murat Ilhan Atagun; Ozge Hisim; Hanife Yilmaz Cengel; Muge Bozkurt; Cahit Keskinkilic

doi:10.1089/can.2019.0017

Impact of At Least 2 Years of Synthetic Cannabinoid Use on Cognitive and Psychomotor Functions Among Treatment-Seeking Male Outpatients

Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2020 Jun 5;5(2):164-171. doi: 10.1089/can.2019.0017. eCollection 2020 Jun 1.

Authors

Gokhan Umut¹, Cuneyt Evren¹, Murat Ilhan Atagun², Ozge Hisim³, Hanife Yilmaz Cengel¹, Muge Bozkurt¹, Cahit Keskinkilic⁴

Affiliations

¹ Research, Treatment and Training Center for Alcohol and Substance Dependence (AMATEM), Bakirkoy Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry Neurology and Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey.
² Department of Psychiatry, Medicine Faculty, Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara, Turkey.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁴ Deparment of Psychology, Bakirkoy Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry Neurology and Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey.

Abstract

Introduction: Synthetic cannabinoid (SC) use, an important public health problem, is becoming increasingly widespread and leads to many medical and psychiatric problems. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of SC use on cognitive and psychomotor functions of patients. Materials and Methods: The participants (30 outpatients with SC use disorder and 33 healthy controls) were administered the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) test, the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI), the Finger-Tapping Test (FTT), and the Adult Memory and Information Processing Battery-B form (AMIPB-B). Results: The SC users scored lower in AMIPB-B, MOCA. and FTT compared to the healthy controls. Conclusion: These findings suggest that SC might impair both cognitive and psychomotor functions. Therefore, outpatients with SC use disorder should be carefully evaluated for cognitive and psychomotor functions since neurological examinations and interventions may also be required in treatment programs for these cases.

Keywords: cognitive functions; psychomotor functions; synthetic cannabinoids.