Examining sex differences in the association between sedentary behavior and cognitive function in bariatric surgery patients.

Background: Obesity is associated with cognitive impairment. A potential contributor to these deficits is sedentary behavior (SB), which is linked to poorer cognitive functioning in other populations. Little is known about the association between SB and cognitive function in bariatric surgery populations.

Objectives: This cross-sectional study examined the association between SB and cognitive function in preoperative bariatric surgery patients, as well as possible sex differences in this relationship.

Setting: Data were collected at 2 health centers in the United States.

Methods: A total of 121 participants (43.2 ± 10.3 yr of age) scheduled for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy completed the National Institute of Health (NIH) Toolbox for the Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function Cognition Domain, a computerized neuropsychological assessment battery. Participants wore a waist-mounted accelerometer for 7 consecutive days to measure SB and light-intensity physical activity (LPA).

Results: Pearson and partial correlations found no significant relationships between cognitive function and SB or LPA in the full sample. However, partial correlations controlling for LPA found that greater SB was associated with poorer performance on List Sorting Working Memory Test in women (r = -.28; P = .006), whereas there was a positive relationship between SB and Dimensional Change Card Sort for men (r = .51; P = .015; 95% CI [.25, .73]).

Conclusions: These results showed that greater SB, independent of LPA, is associated with poorer working memory in women and better set shifting ability in men. Future studies should examine the possibility of domain-specific cognitive effects associated with SB in bariatric surgery samples and clarify possible sex differences.