Changes in interoception before and after treatment in patients with alcohol use disorder

To investigate the factors associated with interoception in patients with alcohol use disorder and determine whether treatment causes changes in their interoception.

The Body Perception Questionnaire-Body Awareness ultra-short version Japanese version (BPQ-BAVSF-J) was used to measure interoception in 50 alcohol-dependent participants (27 in the inpatient group and 23 in the outpatient group). The BPQ-BAVSF-J was administered and data on aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GTP), mean corpuscular volume, platelet count, and Fib-4 index were extracted at admission and immediately before discharge for the inpatient group and at the first outpatient visit and approximately 3 months after the visit for the outpatient group.

The mean age of the 50 participants was 51.0 ± 12.3 years. Significant associations were found between the BPQ-BAVSF-J and Fib-4 index and AST. The BPQ-BAVSF-J score significantly decreased at discharge in the inpatient group. AST, ALT, γ-GTP, and Fib-4 index of liver function were also significantly lower at discharge. In contrast, in the outpatient group, there were no significant changes in the BPQ-BAVSF-J score, AST level, ALT level, γ-GTP level, and Fib-4 index between at the first outpatient visit and approximately 3 months after the visit.

Interoception in patients with alcohol use disorder increased with worsening liver function and decreased with improvement in liver function owing to treatment. This suggests that the BPQ-BAVSF-J score, an easily accessible scale, may be used to detect early deterioration of liver function through regular administration.