A Comparative Study of Audiovisual Reaction Time in Anemic and Nonanemic Adolescent Girls

Ab s t r Ac t Introduction: Anemia is a major public health challenge worldwide and remains a very severe and common health problem in many developing countries including India. The decrease in hemoglobin levels in adolescent age may lead to decreased attentiveness and low neuronal metabolic activity. Reaction time is found to be altered in anemia and has a negative effect on cognitive performance in adolescent girls. Aims and objectives: To study the relation between anemia in adolescent girls and the audiovisual reaction time. To assess the severity of anemia with the audiovisual reaction time. Observation and results: A highly statistically significant difference (p value < 0.001*) was observed between control and anemic groups in both the audiovisual reaction time, and a highly statistically significant difference (p value < 0.001*) was observed in the audiovisual reaction time as the severity of anemia progressed. Conclusion: There is a significant increase in both auditory reaction time (ART) and visual reaction time (VRT) in anemic adolescent girls when compared to the control group. A linear relationship was also established between the severity of anemia and an increase in the ART and VRT values in the adolescent girls.