Assessment of Cognitive Function Among Pregnant Women With Anemia in the Early and Late Trimester of Pregnancy

Abstract

Background and aim Cognitive development is an essential part of brain development. The cognitive assessment can be evaluated using the reaction time (RT) assessment. When attempting to comprehend cognitive processing and motor responses, RT is a very useful tool. Measuring RTs is an essential component in evaluating cognitive and motor abilities. The purpose of the current study was to assess the cognitive function of anemic pregnant South Indian women in the early and late trimesters of their pregnancy. Methods The present analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 120 pregnant women in early and late pregnancy. A convenient sampling method was used. An RT machine assessed visual reaction time (VRT) and auditory reaction time (ART) in the subjects. All the data was tested for normality using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Data analysis was done using a two-tailed unpaired Student's t-test. Results The distinction between pregnant women without anemia and those with anemia in terms of their VRT for red light (VRT-R) and green light (VRT-G) was highly significant with a p-value < 0.0001 (301± 8.16 Vs 324 ± 10.28 milliseconds). The differences in the ART for low-frequency sound (ART-low) and high-frequency sound (ART-high) were highly significant (214 ± 4.26 Vs 238 ± 5.38, 201 ± 2.08 Vs 222 ± 8.46 milliseconds). Pregnant women with anemia have significantly longer RTs compared to normal pregnant women in the early and late trimesters. There were significant differences in RTs between early and late trimesters in pregnant women with anemia, particularly for VRT-G (p< 0.0442) and ARTs (p< 0.0001 for ART-Low, p < 0.0416 for ART-High). The RTs improved slightly from the early to late trimester in pregnant women without anemia (VRT-R: p<0.002; VRT-G: p<0.0001; ART-low and high: p<0.0001). Conclusion Our study found a significant relationship between anemia in pregnancy and altered RTs. Anemia in pregnancy is associated with impaired cognitive function. Hence, pregnant women with anemia at different gestational ages are more prone to cognitive dysfunction than normal pregnant women. This highlights the importance of monitoring and managing anemia during pregnancy to mitigate its impact on cognitive functions.