gms | German Medical Science

76th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

04.05. - 08.05.2005, Erfurt

Article

Send article

Methodology for measuring cognitive functions in patients with allergic rhinitis

Meeting Abstract

Search Medline for

  • corresponding author Bernd Kremer - Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • Isabelle Lutgens - Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • Annemiek Vermeeren - Institut Brain and Behavior, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • Eric Vuurman - Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. 76. Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie e.V.. Erfurt, 04.-08.05.2005. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2005. Doc05hno031

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/hno2005/05hno004.shtml

Published: September 22, 2005

© 2005 Kremer et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

Text

Objective: Previous investigations from our department showed that patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) evaluate their cognitive functions poorer than healthy subjects, however only few objective differences were found. This discrepancy between subjective experience and objective performance can be explained by the hypothesis that AR patients invest more “mental effort” in order to achieve the same performances, resulting in earlier exhaustion. Especially, this should be measured in the more time-demanding and strenuous cognitive tests.

Material and Method: AR patients and healthy subjects were tested before and during the allergic season, with a combination of subjective questionnaires and time-demanding strenuous objective cognitive tests.

Results: The following tests seemed suitable: Mackworth Clock and Continuous Performance Test for measuring sustained attention, Word Learning Task for short and long term memory, Tower of London for executive functioning and Motor Choice Reaction Test for the speed of data processing and the motor system. Significant differences in cognitive functions were found between patients with AR and healthy subjects. Furthermore, scores from visual analogue scales showed that there are significant differences in mental effort to perform certain tasks.

Conclusions: The battery of cognitive measures we developed should enable us to measure the effects of AR on cognitive functions, which can not be found with the existing tests on cognitive functioning.