Obesity, metabolic profile, and inhibition failure: Young women under scrutiny.

CATOIRA NATALIA; TAPAJOZ FERNANDA; ALLEGRI RICARDO FRANCISCO; LAJFER J; RODRIGUEZ CAMARA MJ; ITURRY MONICA; CASTAÑO GUSTAVO

PHYSIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016 vol. 157 p. 87 - 93

0031-9384

BACKGROUND:The prevalence of obesity, as well as evidence about this pathology as a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly, is increasing worldwide. Executive functions have been found to be compromised in most studies, although the specific results are dissimilar. Obese young women constitute an interesting study and intervention group, having been found to be unaffected by age and hormonal negative effects on cognition and considering that their health problems affect not only themselves but their families and offspring. The objective of the present study was to compare the executive performance of obese young women with that of a healthy control group.METHODS:A cross-sectional study was done among premenopausal women from a public hospital in Buenos Aires. The sample comprised 113 participants (32 healthy controls and 81 obese women), who were evaluated for depressive and anxiety symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and executive functioning (Trail-Making Test B, Stroop Color and Word Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and verbal fluency test). Statistical analysis was done by using the SPSS version 20.0 software.RESULTS:Among executive functions, a significant difference was found between groups in inhibition (p