Abstract

Background: Sleep interruption and disturbance of circadian rhythm are inevitable phenomena among night shift workers. A very few evidence is available that describing effects of sleep disturbance and its effect on the visual pathway by measuring the visual evoke potential parameters.

Aims and Objectives: To study the change in visual evoked potential (VEP) due to disturbance of circadian rhythm among rotating shift workers.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 80 security guards of 20-40 years of age working in Government Medical College and New Civil Hospital of Surat. They were divided into two groups comprising of 40 participants. Group 1 comprised of 40 security guards who did rotating night shift for more than 6 months and Group 2 include 40 security guards who did not perform any night shift duty for the past 2 years. VEP test was done, and results of both groups were compared with each other.

Result: The result showed that there was statistically significant (P < 0.05) prolongation of P100 latency in rotating shift workers compared to day workers. The amplitude of P100 decreases in shift worker while comparing both the groups, but it was statistically insignificant (P > 0.05). Pearson correlation revealed, as the head circumference increases, latency of VEP increases, and amplitude decreases.

Conclusion: Alteration in circadian rhythm affected the parameters of VEP in a negative way. In long-term, it may impair their general health. Furthermore, further study is required to support this conclusion.

Key words: Circadian Rhythm; Sleep Deprivation; Security Guards; Visual Evoked Potential