Background. Benzodiazepines (BZs) can impair explicit
memory after a single dose and also when
taken repeatedly for treatment of anxiety disorders. A previous study with
agoraphobia/panic
patients found that the BZ alprazolam impaired memory during an 8-week
treatment and residual
impairments were still manifest several weeks after drug withdrawal (Curran
et al. 1994). The
present study followed up the same group of patients 3·5 years after
treatment to determine whether
those memory impairments persisted.
Method. Thirty-one patients, 15 who had originally been treated
with alprazolam and 16 with
placebo, were assessed on a battery of psychometric tests and self-rating
scales.
Results. Ex-alprazolam patients performed at the same levels
as ex-placebo patients on the memory
task and on other objective tests. Performance levels of both groups were
similar to pre-treatment
baselines, however there were differences in subjective ratings whereby
ex-alprazolam patients rated
themselves as less attentive and clear headed and more incompetent and
clumsy than ex-placebo
patients.
Conclusions. Explicit memory impairments found while patients
were taking alprazolam and weeks
after drug withdrawal did not persist 3·5 years later. We suggest
that the memory impairments
observed in our previous study weeks after withdrawal of alprazolam were
not residual effects of
alprazolam but rather were due to the drug's interference with practice
effects on the tests and
habituation of anxiety over repeated exposure to the test situation.