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).