Effect of polydrug abuse on sustained attention, visuographic function, and reaction time

The present study consists of two parts. In the first part 23 polydrug abusers and a control group of 33 from the United Arab Emirates were tested for visuographic functions using the Benton Visual Retention Test. In the second part 14 polydrug abusers and a group control participants were tested for sustained attention and reaction time. Analysis suggested that polydrug use affects visuographic function and sustained attention adversely but has no effect on reaction time. The latter result was explained in terms of indiscriminate responses by substance abusers.