Changes on executive functions before and after quitting smoking: Pilot study

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to determine differences in executive function between “healthy” patients smokers and nonsmoker’s and also determine the differences in executive functions before and after a period of 6 months without smoking. Materials and Method: 22 healthy smokers (aged 45 ± 12) and nonsmoker’s (aged 42 ± 11) were evaluated from 344 smoking subjects after excluding those with systemic diseases (diabetes, COPD, high blood pressure, etc.), lower than high school education, and those undergoing neuro-pharmacological treatment. The Delis–Kaplan Executive Performance Test was used for the neuropsychological evaluation. Findings: Significant differences were found in the baseline evaluation between smokers and nonsmoker’s on the working memory (p = 0.028), verbal fluency (0.028 and 0.016), and inhibition (0.034 and 0.023) subtests. After 6 months of quitting smoking were found changes in deductive thinking (p = 0.02), working memory (p = 0.021), and planning (p 0.016, p 0.053). Conclusions: Smokers without co-morbidities show differences on executive functions tasks and improve after a period of at least 6 months of abstinence from tobacco.

KEYWORDS:

• Executive function
• neuropsychological impact
• smoking

Acknowledgments

The authors thank CONACyT-Mexico for the grant awarded to study the Master’s Degree program in Neuropsychology at the UNAM. We also wish to extend our gratitude to the study participants who made this research possible.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

The material has not been published elsewhere. The paper is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. All authors have been personally and substantially involved in the work leading to the paper, and will hold themselves jointly and individually responsible for its content. The authors repot no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Valeri Noé-Díaz

Díaz, V. N., conceived the study, patient recruitment and neuropsychological evaluation (pre and post-test), drafted the manuscript. García-Gómez, L. A., is responsible for patient recruitment. Sansores, R. H. & Ramírez-Venegas, A., gave conceptual and technical advice and performed critical review of the manuscript. Cruz-Pérez, F., contributed to interpretation of the data. Salinas-Rivera, E. & Mandujano-Baeza, E., did the statistic analysis. Ortiz-Moncada, G., did the translation and adaptation of neuropsychological test.