ArticleArchives of physical medicine and rehabilitation2026
Temporal Association Between Reported Use of Psychoactive Substances and Cognitive Function in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis.
Article in Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe study aimed to examine same-day within-person associations between psychoactive substance use and cognitive function in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) using ecological momentary assessment.
designThis secondary analysis used data collected over 14 days from people with MS.
settingCommunity.
participantsAmbulatory adults with MS (N=257).
interventionsNot applicable.
main outcome measuresParticipants completed daily ecological momentary assessment via smartphone, reporting use of psychoactive substances (alcohol, cannabis, opioids, nicotine, and caffeine) and perceived cognitive function. Objective cognitive performance was assessed using the Dot Memory Test (working memory) and Symbol Search Tests (processing speed).
resultsOf the 274 enrolled participants, 257 completed the 14-day monitoring phase, yielding over 14,000 assessments with >76% completion across measures. At the between-person level, no significant associations were observed between average substance use and cognitive outcomes. However, within-person analyses revealed that caffeine use was associated with better perceived cognitive function (B=-3.31; P<.001) and faster processing speed (B=-32.58; P=.01). Cannabis use predicted worse perceived cognitive function (B=3.38; P=.049) and alcohol use was linked to poorer working memory performance (B=0.05; P=.02). No significant within-person effects were found for nicotine or opioid use.
conclusionsCaffeine may produce short-term cognitive benefits, whereas cannabis and alcohol are related to negative cognitive effects. Findings highlight the importance of developing personalized, evidence-based guidance for people with MS who may consume psychoactive substances for symptom management, recreation, or other reasons.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.