Pediatric asthma ‘potential source of cognitive difficulty’
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Key takeaways:
- Worse episodic memory, processing speed, and inhibition and attention was reported in kids with vs. without asthma.
- Time of childhood asthma onset and memory should be studied further.
During assessments of episodic memory, processing speed, and inhibition and attention, children with vs. without asthma had poorer scores, according to results published in JAMA Network Open.
“Recommendations to clinicians are premature, but our results underscore the importance of looking at asthma as a potential source of cognitive difficulty in children,” Nicholas J. Christopher-Hayes, MA, PhD candidate in psychology at University of California, Davis, told Healio.
Utilizing data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, Christopher-Hayes, Simona Ghetti, PhD, professor of psychology in the University of California, Davis, Center for Mind and Brain in the College of Letters and Science, and colleagues analyzed children aged 9 to 10 years to uncover the impact of asthma on episodic memory, processing speed, and inhibition and attention.
“Our research was strongly motivated by other work conducted with rodent models that shows the effects of asthma on the animals’ memory,” Ghetti told Healio.
This study included a longitudinal analysis (n = 474) and a cross-sectional analysis (n = 2,062).
The total longitudinal analysis cohort was divided into three groups: 135 with earlier childhood asthma onset (asthma at baseline and 2-year follow-up; mean age, 9.9 years, 56% boys; 48% white; 28% Black), 102 with later childhood asthma onset (asthma only at 2-year follow-up; mean age, 9.88 years; 53% girls; 63% white; 17% Black) and 237 covariate-matched children without asthma (mean age, 9.89 years; 51% boys; 62% white; 15% Black).
When evaluating episodic memory improvement over time, researchers found significantly lower rates among those with earlier asthma onset vs. without asthma (beta = –0.17; 95% CI, –0.28 to –0.05; P = .01). In contrast, those with later asthma onset had similar rates to those without asthma for this outcome, according to the study.
“The results from our study were consistent with these previous findings [from rodent models] and therefore not surprising in that sense,” Ghetti told Healio. “However, it was striking that we found that the extent of exposure to asthma was associated with slower memory improvement in childhood. In other words, children with an earlier asthma onset, who had disease indicators for a longer period of time, showed a slower development of memory over time.”
This finding should be addressed in future research, Christopher-Hayes told Healio.
“We need additional studies to understand why children who were diagnosed earlier and had asthma for longer seem to be particularly affected,” Christopher-Hayes said. “Is it because younger children are more susceptible to the detrimental effects of asthma? Is it because children who were diagnosed earlier in life had asthma for a longer time? These are important questions that will help hone in the mechanism resulting in memory difficulties.”
The total cross-sectional analysis cohort was split into two groups: 1,031 children with asthma (mean age, 11.99 years; 57% boys; 54% white; 27% Black) and 1,031 covariate-matched children without asthma (mean age, 12 years; 54% girls; 59% white; 21% Black).
Between the two sets of children, researchers observed significantly lower/poorer scores for the three assessed outcomes in the group with vs. without asthma. These measures included processing speed (beta = –0.13; 95% CI, –0.22 to –0.03; P = .01), inhibition and attention (beta = –0.11; 95% CI, –0.21 to –0.02; P = .02) and episodic memory (beta = –0.09; 95% CI, –0.18 to –0.01; P = .04), according to the study.
“We need to understand the factors that might exacerbate or protect against the risks,” Ghetti told Healio.
Reference:
- Asthma may place children at risk of memory difficulties, new research finds. https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/asthma-may-place-children-risk-memory-difficulties-new-research-finds. Published Nov. 11, 2024. Accessed Nov. 11, 2024.