The association between serum cortisol, thyroid profile, paraoxonase activity, arylesterase activity and anthropometric parameters of undergraduate students under examination stress

Abstract

Stress caused due to examinations during any degree program and at any educational level has been observed at all levels so the present study was conducted to investigate the stress related to final examination in undergraduate students with reference to their academic performance. Fifty-four volunteers were divided into three groups, (n = 18), according to their academic performance, that is, Group A with low CGPA (⩽2.99), Group B with average CGPA (⩾3.00–3.59) and Group C with high CGPA (⩾3.60) and blood samples (3 ml) were taken at three-time intervals, that is, pre-examination, during examination and post examination time interval, at the Department of Physiology, Government College University, Faisalabad. Anthropometric parameters like height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate and body mass index (BMI) were also determined. Blood cortisol and thyroid hormones (triiodothyronine, T3; thyroxine, T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)) were measured using ELISA based technique. Arylesterase activity (ARE) and paraoxonase activity (PON-1) were also measured using colorimetric method. The results showed that overall cortisol level was increased at pre-examination and during examination time intervals as compared to the post examination time interval while PON-1 and ARE were significantly (p < 0.05) decreased. With regards to T4 and TSH, a non-significant (p < 0.05) difference was observed in pre and post examination time interval. It could be concluded from the current study that semester system examinations significantly (p < 0.05) imposed stress in all students group at pre-examination interval as compare to post examination interval and this examination related stress was find more in the students already obtained low CGPA as compared to the other studied groups. Although, a correlation between academic performance and examinations stress in semester system was found but a large scale trial in multiple institutions throughout the Pakistan is required to exclude any socioeconomic factors because Pakistan belongs to developing country.