Vascular complications, including elevated body mass index (BMI), are known risk factors for cognitive impairment. Obtaining a cognitive baseline is commonplace in pre-surgical protocols, including for Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. Currently, routine evaluations for bariatric surgery candidates do not include neuropsychological assessment. This setting provides a unique opportunity to identify cognitive profiles of younger individuals at risk for cognitive impairment. Here, we argue for the standard implementation of a brief, online cognitive battery via telemedicine, to enhance existing protocols of bariatric pre-surgical evaluations.

Nineteen bariatric surgery candidates were referred to a private neuropsychological assessment practice for pre-surgical cognitive/psychological evaluation. Assessments were conducted by a neuropsychologist and a psychology graduate student, via remote video conferencing, between April 2020 and June 2022. Candidates completed a clinical interview, intake form, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function for Adults (BRIEF-A), and were administered a battery of cognitive measures: Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR), Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R); and select subtests from the TestMyBrain Digital Neuropsychology Toolkit: Trail Making Tests A and B (TMT-A/B), Matrix Reasoning (MR), Digit Span Forward and Backward (DSF, DSB), Gradual Onset Continuous Performance Test (CPT), and Simple and Choice Reaction Time (SRT, CRT). Descriptive statistics were conducted to analyze sample demographics. Raw scores on cognitive measures were converted to z-scores and averaged across the sample.

The average age at evaluation was 38.2 (9.6) years and average pre-surgical BMI was 46.6k/m2 (9.3), indicating morbid obesity (BMI>40k/ m2). Ten (52.6%) candidates identified as female, 10 (52.6%) identified as White, 8 (42.1%) had 12 years of education or less, 4 (21.1%) were unemployed, and 9 (47.4%) had comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. BRIEF-A sub-scales were within the average range (T’s= 47.9 - 52.9, SD’s [10.1 - 12.8]). Estimated premorbid IQ was average at 102.7 (11.4). Neuropsychological data revealed group performance within the average range on DSF and DSB (z’s= 0.00), TMT-A (z= -0.16), MR (z= -0.53), CPT (z= -0.39), and HVLT-R False Positives (z= 0.05) and Recognition Discriminability (z= -0.44). SRT (z= -0.70), CRT Accuracy (z= -1.37), TMT-B (z= -0.79), HVLT-R Total Recall and Percent Retained (z’s= -0.88), and Delayed Recall and True Positives (z’s= -1.27) were low average.

In this sample of pre-surgical bariatric candidates with average intelligence, baseline evaluations revealed mild deficits in reaction time accuracy, visual motoric set-shifting, and verbal learning/memory. These deficits may be the result of microvascular changes in the brain secondary to physical compromise. Results provide additional insight into potential early-onset executive dysfunction, psychomotor slowing, and verbal learning/memory difficulties. In addition to these relative areas of neuropsychological weakness, candidates demonstrated relative strengths in attention, working memory, and visuospatial functioning. These insights provide pre-surgical evaluators with additional information to tailor recommendations and treatment approaches that foster surgical success. With a remote, concise, easy-to-administer battery of tests, routine neuropsychological assessment for bariatric surgery candidates is both a feasible and a useful tool for identifying areas of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Documenting a patients’ cognitive baseline can assist with monitoring long-term vascular risk-factors and potential cognitive impairment.