Abstract
Background: Women constitute 24 percent of the workforce in India, which boasts of one the largest working populations in the world. Information Technology industry is one such industry where women constitute a significant percentage of employees. BPO sector is a major part of IT industry with around 4.5 million employees of which 35 % are women. These women employees are subjected to high work stress, odd working hours and frequent shift changes apart from environmental & domestic stressors leading to increased physical and mental health problems.
Aims & Objective: To study the cognitive functions – Learning, Memory & Executive function in female BPO employees exposed to regular shifts.

Materials and Methods: 50 female BPO employees exposed to regular shifts were assessed for cognitive functions of learning, memory & executive function. They were compared with 50 female non BPO employees not working in shifts. Data was analyzed by t-test and Mann-Whitney test using SPSS V.13.0.

Results: BPO employees performed poorly compared to their controls in tests for learning and memory, response inhibition & visual working memory. No changes were seen between groups in tests for verbal working memory.

Conclusion: cognitive functions are impaired in female BPO employees exposed to regular shift changes.

Key words: BPO, Cognitive functions, Female, Shift work