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Obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes perform worse than controls on cognitive and behavioral assessments
Author(s) -
Brady Cassandra C,
Vannest Jennifer J,
Dolan Lawrence M,
Kadis Darren S,
Lee Gregory R,
Holland Scott K,
Khoury Jane C,
Shah Amy S
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
pediatric diabetes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.678
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1399-5448
pISSN - 1399-543X
DOI - 10.1111/pedi.12383
Subject(s) - medicine , type 2 diabetes , diabetes mellitus , cognition , type 1 diabetes , verbal fluency test , population , checklist , verbal memory , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , working memory , clinical psychology , neuropsychology , psychology , psychiatry , endocrinology , environmental health , cognitive psychology
Background Children with type 1 diabetes demonstrate worse cognitive performance compared with their peers. Little is known regarding the cognitive and behavioral performance in obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes. Methods Cross sectional evaluation of 20 obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes and 20 healthy adolescents was performed in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cognitive tests that included measures of processing speed, working memory, verbal and semantic fluency and parent reports of executive function and problem behavior were compared. Academic achievement and the relationship between cognitive/behavioral scores and diabetes duration and diabetes control (hemoglobin A1c) were assessed in the type 2 diabetes group only. Results The type 2 diabetes group had mean duration of diabetes of 2.8 ± 2.2 yr and hemoglobin A1c of 7.9 ± 2.2%. Adolescents with type 2 diabetes scored lower than controls on tests of working and verbal memory and processing speed (all p < 0.05) and worse for Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems behaviors on the Child Behavior Checklist (all p < 0.05). Adolescents with type 2 diabetes scored below the population mean in academic achievement, most notably calculation. Working memory and processing speed were negatively correlated with duration of diabetes (r = −0.50 and −0.47, respectively, p < 0.05). Conclusions Obese youth with type 2 diabetes score poorly compared with controls on multiple assessments of cognitive function and adaptive behavior. Further work is needed to determine if these effects are driven by obesity, diabetes or other demographic and socioeconomic risk factors.