Solvent Abuse Neuropsychological Sequelae

Instead of using neurological procedures to detect damage to the nervous system following solvent abuse, an alternative strategy has been to use neuropsychological tests. 

The rationale for using psychological tests to detect CNS impairment has been considered in detail elsewhere (Chadwick and Rutter, 1983 Wert and Raulin, 1986 a and b) and will be only briefly considered here. 

These two studies provide two of the more satisfactory sources of evidence to date that solvent abuse may cause neuropsychological impairment. Most of the major methodological pitfalls seem to have been avoided, but nevertheless it should be noted that the control groups in both studies were small, and in the Berry et al investigation, the possibility that unintended bias may have operated in the process of selecting suitable volunteer controls to match with the cases cannot be completely ruled out. 

Other studies of the neuropsychological consequences of solvent abuse have been based on samples that are too small to permit reliable conclusions to be drawn. 

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In most previous studies of the neuropsychological sequelae of solvent abuse, the cases and controls have been selected from different sources. The cases have typically been selected from those referred for psychological assessment and treatment, whereas the controls have been selected from a variety of other sources. The selection of the two groups from different populations, increases the likelihood of adventitious background differences between groups on variables that might affect psychological test performance. 

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