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Altered performance in attention tasks in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis: seasonal dependency and association with disease characteristics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2014

K. Trikojat ,
A. Buske-Kirschbaum ,
J. Schmitt  and
F. Plessow
K. Trikojat*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
A. Buske-Kirschbaum
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
J. Schmitt
Affiliation:
Centre for Evidence-Based Healthcare, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Germany
F. Plessow
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
*
* Address for correspondence: K. Trikojat, Dipl.-Psych., Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Zellescher Weg 19, D-01069 Dresden, Germany. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background.

Seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) is a chronic disease affecting about 23% of the European population with increasing prevalence rates. Beside classical symptoms (i.e. sneezing, nasal congestion), patients frequently complain about subjective impairments in cognitive functioning during periods of acute allergic inflammation. However, objective evidence for such deficits or the role of potential modulators and underlying mechanisms is limited. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of SAR on attention-related cognitive processes. In addition, relationships between attention performance, sleep and mood disturbances as well as specific disease characteristics as potential modulators of this link were explored.

Method.

SAR patients (n = 41) and non-allergic healthy controls (n = 42) completed a set of attention tasks during a symptomatic allergy period and during a non-symptomatic period. Influences of sleep, mood, total immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels and individual allergy characteristics on cognitive performance were evaluated.

Results.

Compared to healthy controls, SAR patients had a slower processing speed during both symptomatic and non-symptomatic allergy periods. Additionally, they showed a more flexible adjustment in attention control, which may serve as a compensatory strategy. Reduction in processing speed was positively associated with total IgE levels whereas flexible adjustment of attention was linked with anxious mood. No association was found between SAR-related attention deficits and allergy characteristics or sleep.

Conclusions.

SAR represents a state that is crucially linked to impairments in information processing and changes in attentional control adjustments. These cognitive alterations are more likely to be influenced by mood and basal inflammatory processes than sleep impairments or subjective symptom severity.

Keywords

Attentioncognitive controlimmunoglobulin Eprocessing speedseasonal allergic rhinitis.
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 45 , Issue 6 , April 2015 , pp. 1289 - 1299
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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