Sintomatología prefrontal en personas con obesidad.

Obesity is considered today as the epidemic of the XXI century, and it is associated with negative physical, emotional and social consequences. At a cognitive level, there are limited studies that offer data on the effects of Body Mass Index (BMI) on the prefrontal cortex and the daily living of those who suffer it. The aim of the present paper was to determine the prefrontal clinical symptoms in daily living in people with obesity, by evaluating three factors: emotional control (decision making, problem solving and inhibition of motor behavior), social control (disinhibition, impulsivity and theory of mind) and executive control (attention, planning and delayed memory), and search of psychometric evidences for the Inventory Pre-frontal Symptom Inventory. The sample consisted of 53 people with a BMI equal to or greater than 30, of both genders, aged between 21 and 59 years, chosen through an accidental non-probabilistic sampling and to whom the Prefrontal Symptom Inventory PSI-20 was applied, which was subjected to a psychometric study. The statistical analysis showed that the PSI-20 proved to be a valid and reliable technique for its use in the Venezuelan population. The prefrontal symptomatology, as well as its components: emotional, social and executive control, were located in percentile ranges that suggest the presence of difficulties in the daily living. The importance of variable evaluation and its impact on daily living situations was highlighted. The conclusions show that the presence of deficits at the prefrontal level that affect daily living of obese people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]