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Behavior, Psychology and Sociology

The impact of obesity in cognitive and memory dysfunction in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

International Journal of Obesity volume 43, pages 355–361 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder, results in decreased daytime alertness and neurocognitive dysfunction. Obesity is considered a major risk factor for the development and progression of OSA and the resulting cognitive dysfunction. However, the effect of obesity on neurocognitive dysfunction in OSA has been rarely investigated.

Methods

Eighty-three patients with moderate to severe OSA syndrome were recruited in our study. After matching for education, age, and body mass index (BMI), 40 patients were enrolled into our study with matched obese (BMI ≧ 30) and non-obese (BMI < 30) groups. All enrolled patients completed a polysomnographic study, sleepiness questionnaires, and attention, cognitive, and memory function tests.

Results

Compared to obese OSA patients, non-obese OSA patients had shorter reaction times in the psychomotor vigilance task but not the Flanker or Stroop cognitive tasks. Additionally, obese OSA patients had a reduced capacity for working memory relative to non-obese OSA patients.

Conclusions

Obesity had a significant effect on OSA patients in our study, including delayed reaction times in the psychomotor vigilance task and a decrease in working memory.

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Acknowledgements

Funding

Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital provided financial support in the form of funding for design and data acquisition. The sponsor had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan

    Yu-Chih Shen & Ya-Ling Hong

  2. Department of Human Development and Psychology, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan

    Su-Chin Kung

  3. School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan

    Yu-Chih Shen & En-Ting Chang

  4. Department of Chest Medicine, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan

    En-Ting Chang

  5. Epidemiology and Biostatistics Consulting Center, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan

    Ling-Yi Wang

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  1. Yu-Chih Shen
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  5. Ling-Yi Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to En-Ting Chang.

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Conflict of interest

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements) or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Shen, YC., Kung, SC., Chang, ET. et al. The impact of obesity in cognitive and memory dysfunction in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Int J Obes 43, 355–361 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-018-0138-6

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