Abstract:
The metabolic syndrome, a clustering of several commonly occurring
disorders that include abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, low high‐density
lipoprotein level, hypertension, and hyperglycemia, has been specifically investigated
as a risk factor for cognitive decline in elderly individuals. The metabolic syndrome may
be a risk factor for cognitive decline because it summarizes the joint effects of these
risk factors. It is known that difference between simple and choice reaction time (RT)
implies time required for cognition. Though delayed choice RTs indicate involvement
of cognition, they cannot quantify how much time is required for cognition. In whole
body simple reaction time (WBSRT), RT is split into two chronoscopic readings: C1 and
C2. C1 measures time required for central processing which requires cognition and C2
measures total RT. C2‐C1 measures time required for peripheral motor response. We
hypothesized that whole body choice RT chronoscopic reading 1 (WBCRTC1) will be
delayed in metabolic syndrome and WBCRTC1 will have predictive value in detecting
cognitive dysfunction. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Hospital‐based cross‐sectional
case‐control study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study was conducted on 120 subjects
using visual and WBSRT having criteria of age (40‐60 years) and metabolic syndrome,
compared with equal number of age‐ and sex‐matched controls. Statistical analysis was
done by independent t‐test and duration of metabolic syndrome was correlated with
cognition times (WBCRTC1) using Pearson’s correlation. Predictive value of WBCRTC1
was calculated using receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: Delayed visual
simple RT, visual choice RT, WBSRT, and whole body choice RT (WBCRT) observed
among subjects metabolic syndrome when compared with controls. Choice RTs were
more delayed compared to simple RTs. WBCRTC1 (608.8 ± 132 ms) was more delayed than WBSRTC1 (424.05 ± 89.9 ms) among metabolic syndrome indicating cognitive
dysfunction. Unfortunately, there was no significant correlation between duration of
metabolic syndrome with cognition. The best cut‐off value for WBCRTC1, when predicting
cognitive dysfunction in metabolic syndrome was 542.5 ms (sensitivity 36.7% and
specificity 31.6%). CONCLUSIONS: WBCRTC1 can be used as a tool to detect cognitive
dysfunction.
