Exploring memory and thinking difficulties in opiate users.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the understanding and experience of cognitive difficulties in people with an opiate-use disorder.
IRAS ID
216036
Contact name
Paul Davis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research Integrity & Governance Manager
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 30 days
Research summary
Difficulties with thinking such as memory, attention, planning, and organisation are common in people with impaired cognition. Specialist services exist to diagnose and offer support for individuals with cognitive impairment, for example, memory clinics and rehabilitation services for head injury. Chronic substance misuse can also result in cognitive impairment for reasons including the damaging impact of the substance on the brain, alcohol misuse, and accidental overdose. Although robust cognitive impairment is reported in people who misuse substances, specialist services offering support for these specific cognitive difficulties do not exist.
Heroin is an addictive illicit substance and is commonly associated with chronic use. Little is known about how cognitive deficits in opiate users are experienced, and their potential impact on functioning in daily life. Research shows that chronic drug use is associated with low employment rates and a poorer quality of life, which may be exacerbated by cognitive deficits.
This study aims to recruit 8 long term opiate users who are in treatment for opiate dependency at a specialist community substance misuse service, iHear Hounslow, for opiate-replacement treatment including methadone and buprenorphine. Individuals will be recruited only if they self-identify as experiencing memory and thinking difficulties. Participants will take part in a semi-structured interview taking up to an hour, which will explore an individual’s experiences of their self-identified memory and thinking difficulties, including how an individual makes sense of them, the impact these difficulties have on their functioning in daily life, and how they cope.
Qualitative analysis (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis) will be used to analyse data gathered in each individual’s interview. Analysis will identify the similarities and differences between participant’s experiences of memory and thinking difficulties. Exploring the experience and impact of cognitive impairment in these individuals could contribute towards understanding an individual’s complex presenting difficulties in services for substance misuse.REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0082
Date of REC Opinion
6 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion