Evaluation of executive functions and impulsivity in adolescents with exogenous obesity with and without binge eating disorder

ABSTRACT Background: In our study, it was aimed to determine the executive functions and impulsivity and executive functions in children and adolescents with exogenous obesity diagnosed with binge eating disorder and who had exogenous obesity without a diagnosis of binge eating disorder. It is aimed to determine whether there is any impairment in executive functions, to determine whether there is an increase in impulsivity and to compare these characteristics with each other. In addition, disease groups were also compared with healthy controls. It was thought that the evaluation of obesity and BED separately, would contribute to the evaluation of differences in the components of executive functions and impulsivity, and this would contribute to the etiology, clinical course and appropriate treatment of diseases. Method: The study was followed-up at the outpatient clinic of Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. The study included obese (according to age and sex with BMI percentile > 95) patients between 13 and 18 years, 15 adolescents with binge eating disorder (according to DSM-5) and adolescents without BED. The study included 28 volunteer adolescents who were similar to the patient group about age and gender, were not obese (BMI <85 ) and no psychiatric disorder was diagnosed according to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. The sociodemographic characteristics of the children included in the study were recorded. Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children Lifetime Version- K-SADS-PL) was applied to adolescents who participated in the study. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stroop Test, Barratt Impulsivity Scale-10 (BDI), Eating Attitude Test and WISC_R and WAIS intelligence tests were applied to all groups. Results: In our study, the education rate of fathers in the control group was found to be significantly higher compared to the case group. It was found that there was more chronic medical disease in the family than the control group in the non-TYB obese group. It was found that the case group had significantly more regular sports. Stroop test was found to be significantly shorter in the control group in the section-1, section-2 and section-4 periods. There were no significant differences between the groups in the Wisconsin Card Matching Test and BDI-10 test where executive functions were measured. Conclusion: While the groups with and without the diagnosis of obesity with the control group had lower performance in the Stroop test, there was no difference between the groups in WCST. Although some of the executive functions were found to be impaired in obese adolescents with and without the diagnosis of BED, there was no common deterioration, but more studies were needed. Key words: binge eating disorder, obesity, executive functions, impulsivity