Orthostatic blood pressure regulation correlates with cognitive function in Hispanic American Head Start children

The postural shift from lying to standing may provide a challenge for maintaining adequate blood flow to the brain. Cerebral perfusion in response to the shift to upright posture is affected by a variety of factors including the health of the cardiovascular system and a slight increase in orthostatic systolic blood pressure (SBP). In this study, cognitive functioning was examined in Hispanic American preschoolers in relation to systolic orthostatic blood pressure regulation (OBPR). The extent to which SBP increases in response to standing provides an index for predicting cognitive functioning. Developmental cognitive screening tests (Speed-DIAL-III) were administered individually. At a separate time, blood pressure regulation was assessed in response to an orthostatic challenge. After controlling for age and gender, adequate effective SBP regulation was found to predict performance on measures of concept skills and language competency. Findings support previous research and suggest an association between effective blood pressure regulation and cognitive performance among 3–5-year-old children.

Keywords:

• Blood pressure
• cognition
• Head Start
• orthostatic blood pressure regulation
• orthostatic hypotension

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Lake County Head Start Program and Rosalind Franklin University for their support for and assistance with this study.