HUBUNGAN ANTARA KADAR SENG (Zn) DENGAN MEMORI JANGKA PENDEK PADA ANAK SEKOLAH DASAR (The Association Between Zinc (Zn) level and Short Term Memory in Elementary School Children)

Abstract

Background. Zinc plays an important role in biochemical processes of human body, morphogenesis of central nervous system, and regulation of neurotransmitter release. Zinc defficiency is still a common problem in children, this is due to the consumption of phytat containing food, food rich in fibers, and calcium containing food. Good short term memory ability is essential for school age children in order to improve their academic achievement. The association between zinc and memory in school age children is still controversial. Therefore, whether zinc level has association to short term memory in children needs to be confirmed. Objective. To determine the association of zinc (Zn) level and short term memory in elementary school children. Methods. This was an analytic, explorative, observational study. The subjects were 1st grade elementary school children. Short term memory function was evaluated by wing digit span forward, digit span backward, and picture search tests. Hair samples were retrieved to asses zinc level, blood samples were drawn to asses plasma iron, feritin, hemoglobin and calcium levels. The association between zinc level and short term memory was analyzed with Pearson’s coefficient correlation and linier regression models. Hypothesis was tested by Pearson’s coefficient correlation and subsequently continued by linier regression test. Results. One hundred and ten 1st grade elementary school children were evaluated, which consisted of 70 boys (63.1 %) and 41 girls (36.9 %). There were highly significant association between hair zinc levels with digit span forward (p=0.002), digitspan backward (0.001), picture search scores(0.003) . Thrirty eight to fifty four percent of the three short term memory tests result were influenced by plasma zinc, Hb, feritin, and calcium levels. Pendahuluan. Seng berperan dalam proses biokimiawi dalam tubuh manusia, morfogenesis sistim saraf pusat dan berperan dalam regulasi pelepasan neurotransmitter. Defisiensi seng masih merupakan masalah yang dijumpai pada anak, hal ini disebabkan karena konsumsi makanan yang mengandung fitat, makanan berserat, dan mengandung kalsium. Kemampuan memori jangka pendek yang baik pada anak usia sekolah sangat penting. dalam usaha meningkatkan prestasi belajar anak. Hubungan seng dengan memori pada anak usia sekolah masih bersifat kontroversi. Oleh karena itu perlu di pastikan apakah kadar seng mempunyai hubungan dengan memori jangka pendek pada anak Tujuan. Mengetahui hubungan kadar seng (Zn) dengan memori jangka pendek pada anak sekolah dasar. Metode: Rancangan penelitian adalah observasional eksploratif analitik. Subyek adalah anak sekolah dasar kelas 1. Fungsi memori jangka pendek dengan menggunakan tes digit span forward, digit span backward, dan picture search. Diambil sampel rambut untuk diperiksa kadar seng, sampel darah untuk diperiksa kadar besi plasma, feritin, hemoglobin, dan kalsium plasma. Hubungan antara kadar seng dengan memori jangka pendek dianalisis dengan memakai pearson koefisien korelasi dan regresi linear. Pengujian hipotesis dengan analisis person koefisien korelasi diteruskan dengan regresi linear. Hasil: Diteliti 110 anak kelas satu sekolah dasar terdiri 70 anak laki-laki (63.1%) dan 41 anak perempuan (36.9%). Terdapat hubungan sangat bermakna derajat kuat antara seng rambut dengan skor digit-span forward (p=0.002), backward (p=0.001), dan skor picture search (p=0.003). Terdapat 38 – 54% dari hasil ketiga tes memori jangka pendek tersebut dipengaruhi oleh kadar seng, Hb, ferritin, dan kalsium plasma.