Chronic alteration of circadian rhythm impairs the levels of perceived stress and sleepiness
The Figure 1 showed that chronic alteration (≥ 5 years) of circadian rhythm induced by irregular and alternate work scale in policemen resulted in increased perceived stress (Figure 1A; p<0.008), when compared with civil men working in a diurnal 8 hours/day work scale. In addition, the evaluation of sleepiness by Epworth sleepiness scale revealed that policemen working in an irregular and alternate work scale resulted in increased sleepiness when compared with civil men (Figure 1C; p<0.04). Together, these results point out that such irregular and alternate work scale in policemen can impairs two main parameters which modulates the circadian rhythm. For the other side, the evaluation of the levels of physical activity revealed no differences between civil and policemen, which are both sedentary (Figure 1B; p>0.05).