NORMATIVE DATA FOR A BRIEF NEUROPSYCHOLOGIC TEST BATTERY IN A COHORT OF INJECTING DRUG-USERS

Recent epidemiologic studies of the cognitive performance of injecting drug users have demonstrated the need to establish appropriate test n orms for this population. This report provides normative data from a g roup of 150 injecting drug users on a battery of standardized tests of cognitive performance stratified by age group (range 20 to 49 years) and educational level (mean 11.6, standard deviation 2.0). The analysi s also includes estimation of partial correlations between neuropsycho logic test scores and age and education. The analysis demonstrates tha t age and education are important determinants of performance for seve ral of these tests, and provides norms that may be of use as a referen ce for clinical evaluation and research in drug user populations.