Impaired neurocognitive and psychomotor performance in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Limited evidence exists regarding cognitive and psychomotor function in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Therefore, we aimed to compare the neurocognitive and psychomotor function of 60 IBD patients with 60 age/sex-matched controls. Computer-based instrument Complex Reactinometer Drenovac (CRD) was used for assessment of cognitive domains: convergent thinking (simple mathematical tasks; CRD-11), perceptive abilities (light signal position discrimination; CRD-311) and sophisticated operative thinking (complex psychomotor coordination; CRD-411). The most important analyzed parameters were total test solving time (T(TTS)); minimal time of particular test solving (T(MIN)) and total number of wrong reactions (N(ER)). Performance in all three cognitive tests showed statistically significantly longer T(TTS) and T(MIN) in IBD patients (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in N(ER). Aforementioned findings were adjusted for BMI, age and duration of education. Our study has shown impaired neurocognitive and psychomotor function in IBD patients compared to controls, especially in mental processing speed and mental endurance of perceptive abilities, convergent thinking and complex operative thinking.