COMPARISON OF THE VISUAL ATTENTION SPAN AND PROCESSING SPEED OF CIGARETTE SMOKERS AND NON-SMOKERS USING THE TRAIL MAKING TEST AMONG YOUNG ADULTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

The negative impacts of smoking on the body and its role in the development of different diseases have been the solid foundation of anti-smoking campaigns. However, its effects on the brain lack recognition, hence, they are not frequently highlighted. In today’s society, young adults are easily influenced to start smoking. No local study has investigated the effects of cigarette smoking on the cognition of young adults. The present study aimed to investigate the effect smoking has on cognitive function of cigarette smokers and non-smokers, as to visual attention span and processing speed by utilizing the Trail Making Test A and B. The 100 subjects recruited were young adults, divided into 50 smokers and 50 non-smokers, and were instructed to complete the test in under 10 minutes. The study found that the majority of smokers were male who have been smoking for 5-6 years, with an average consumption of more than 23 sticks per day. It also showed that smoking may have an effect on rote memory as seen in TMT-A scores. Overall, there is sufficient data to conclude cigarette smoking has a significant effect on visual attention span and processing speed. A noteworthy association was also observed on gender, indicating that men had a slower time executing the test. However, this study does not clearly show that smoking cigarettes has a significant impact on their performance in comparison to women, as there may be additional factors aside from smoking. With these findings, encouragement and campaign to the general public on the importance of quitting smoking is refocused, and further research on the effect of smoking on other cognitive functions is needed to better understand its full effects on the brain.