On the Relationship among Age, Sex, Body Mass Index and Audiovisual Reaction Time in Normal Thai Subjects

Abstract

A person’s central information processing speed and coordinated peripheral movement response, commonly known as ‘reaction time’, are known to vary with age, sex and body mass index (BMI). This study investigated the relationship between these factors on 116 healthy Thai subjects using Pearson’s correlation with age, BMI and the point biserial correlation with sex. It was found that there was a high-level positive association between reaction time and age in response to sound and light stimuli in both simple and complex conditions (p<0.05). In response to audio stimuli, BMI demonstrated a low-level positive association with reaction time (right hand p<0.05, left hand p<0.01, right foot p<0.01 and left foot p<0.01) and also with visual stimuli (right hand p<0.05, left hand p<0.0001, right foot p<0.001, left foot p<0.0001) including complex conditions (right hand p<0.0001, left hand p<0.001). Thus, it is concluded that aging and higher BMI were associated with an increased reaction time, or a longer time to respond to stimuli in both hands and feet, but there was no association with sex.