Archives of Mental Health (Jan 2020)

A study of cognitive dysfunctions in chronic smokers

  • Shaik Ekramulla,
  • Ramya Keerthi Paradesi,
  • Nageswara Rao Nallapaneni

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/AMH.AMH_11_20
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 1
pp. 30 – 38

Abstract

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Background: Cognition is defined as the mental processes of perception, memory, and information processing. Cigarette smoking could contribute to cognitive impairment through atherosclerotic and hemodynamic processes. Aims and Objectives: The aims and objectives were to study the cognitive dysfunctions in chronic smokers and to compare cognitive dysfunctions in chronic smokers with nonsmokers who are matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Settings and Design: This is a cross-sectional study conducted using purposive sampling on participants recruited from the Outpatient Department of Psychiatry, Narayana Medical College and Hospital. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on a sample of sixty patients. Out of this, thirty participants who are current smokers were taken as cases and the other thirty participants who are the attenders of the patients who never smoked cigarette were taken as controls. Informed consent was taken from the cases and controls. Brief Cognitive Rating Scales (BCRSs), digit symbol substitution test (DSST), and Trial-Making Test-A and B were used to assess the cognitive functions, and Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) was used to confirm the diagnosis of nicotine dependence. Statistical Analysis Used: To test the association between the groups, Chi-square test was used. To test the mean difference between the groups, Student's t-test and ANOVA were used. To test the correlation between the scores, Spearman's rank correlation was used. Results: Smokers when compared to nonsmokers took longer time in the completion of both trail-making tests A and B and gave less correct responses on DSST. Significant impairment in all the five axes of BCRS was observed. Comparison was statistically significant between FTND score, the trail-making tests A and B, BCRS, except axis-ii. Conclusions: The higher the nicotine dependence, the greater is the chronicity of cigarette smoking, which has significant cognitive dysfunction.

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