DIFFERENCES IN THE COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE OF ATTENTION AND MEMORY IN A GROUP OF COLOMBIAN YOUNG ADULT USERS AND NON-USERS OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

Abstract

The consumption of psychoactive substances is one of the public health problems that needs to be addressed and tackled by health personnel in order to reduce the incidence of consumption and the problems of morbidity and mortality, therefore the objective of the present study is to identify if there are differences in the cognitive performance of attention and memory in a group of young Colombian adult consumers and non-consumers of psychoactive substances through a simple prospective ex post facto prospective design; 60 participants divided into two groups between 18 and 30 years of age were evaluated using the Neuropsychological Evaluation Instrument NEUROPSI Attention and Memory (NAM-2). The results indicate that the most prevalent substances in the consumer group were alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, cocaine and inhalants; likewise, it was identified that there are statistically significant differences in the cognitive performance of attention and memory between both groups; likewise, the results suggest the presence of alterations in functions such as selective and sustained attention, working memory, encoding and evocation in the sample of consumers. When framing the results in the field of prevention, the need to implement intervention routes against consumption at early ages is highlighted.