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. 2023 Jan 6;11(1):2162528.
doi: 10.1080/21642850.2022.2162528. eCollection 2023.

Pre-post intervention exploring cognitive function and relationships with weight loss, intervention adherence and dropout

Amanda N Szabo-Reed  1 , Laura E Martin  2 , Cary R Savage  3 , Richard A Washburn  1 , Joseph E Donnelly  1
Affiliations

Pre-post intervention exploring cognitive function and relationships with weight loss, intervention adherence and dropout

Amanda N Szabo-Reed et al. Health Psychol Behav Med. .

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the association between baseline cognitive function, intervention dropout, adherence and 3-month weight loss (WL) when controlling for confounding demographic variables.

Methods: 107 (Mage = 40.9 yrs.), BMI in the overweight and obese range (BMI = 35.6 kg/m2), men (N = 17) and women (N = 90) completed a 3-month WL intervention. Participants attended weekly behavioral sessions, comply with a reduced calorie diet, and complete 100 min of physical activity (PA)/wk. Cognitive function tasks at baseline included Flanker (attention), Stroop (executive control) and working memory, demographics, body weight and cardiovascular fitness were assessed at baseline. Session attendance, adherence to PA and diet were recorded weekly.

Results: Baseline attention was positively correlated with age (p < .05), education (p < .05), attendance (p < .05), diet (p < .05) and PA (p < .05). Baseline executive control (p < .05) and working memory (p < .05) were each associated with % WL. Baseline executive control (p < .01) and working memory (p < .001) were also each associated with education. ANOVA indicated that baseline attention (p < .01) was associated with WL, specifically for comparing those who achieved 5-10% WL (p < .01) and those who achieved greater than 10% WL (p < .01) to those who dropped.

Significance: Results suggest that stronger baseline attention is associated with completion of a 3-mo. WL intervention. Executive control and working memory are associated with amount of WL achieved.

Nct registration: US NIH Clinical Trials, NCT01664715.

Keywords: Obesity; adherence; cognitive function; weight loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Theoretical model of the association between obesity and cognitive function.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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