PANDA Study Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation into the Prevalence of Anxiety/Depressive Mood Disorders and abnormal Neuropsychological Functioning as a consequence of Alcohol Dependency and post Abstinence Recovery
IRAS ID
246974
Contact name
Fleur Davey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Fife Board
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 5 days
Research summary
Drinking alcohol to dependent levels is commonly associated with some degree of depression, anxiety, impaired cognitive functioning (mental processes including attention, memory, learning, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making) and/or alterations in brain structure and activity. It is unclear what level of daily alcohol consumption is associated with the onset of these co-morbidities, whether impairments become progressively worse as levels of dependent drinking increase, and if a sustained period of abstinence reverses these symptoms. This case-controlled study proposes to investigate the associations between dependent drinking and both; mood disorders and neuropsychological functioning, in a population of dependent drinkers seeking treatment for their alcohol consumption in an NHS treatment clinic. A non-dependent matched control group will be recruited to provide a baseline level of functioning we would expect without the development of alcohol dependency. An additional matched group of opioid dependent individuals will be recruited to investigate whether individuals with alcohol and opioid dependencies have shared Cognitive and Anxiety/Depressive Mood Disorder profiles or if these are substrate specific.
We propose to investigate recovery after detoxification from alcohol by following individuals detoxified from alcohol and maintaining abstinence for up to 12 months. Changes in mood and neurocognition during cessation from alcohol will be assessed over a 6 month period, and compared to a matched non-dependent drinking cohort. Recovery in brain structure and activity will be measured by comparing EEG and f-MRI scans taken at the start of abstinence and 6 months later. If an individual relapses into alcohol dependency they will be withdrawn from the study and information gained prior to relapse will be retained and analysed in order to potentially identify potential clinical indicators of relapse.REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
20/ES/0036
Date of REC Opinion
25 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion