Serum cortisol, academic performance and health of siriraj medical students.

ABSTRACT

A study of serum cortsol in second year medical students at Siriraj Hospital was performed in 1986 curriculum year. Ninety-one volunteers, 28 females and 63 males, participated in this study. Two blood samples were collected from each volunteer, one at the beginning of the second semester and the other at the end of the semester, a few days before the final examination in Physiology. Serum cortisol, which was measured by RIA technique, was used to determine the degree of stress and the ability to adapt to stress. By considering the two cortisol values on second examination, group 2-increased value from first normal value, group 3-decreased value from first high value and group 4-sustained or increased value from first high value. It was found that 57.14 percent of male and 60.71 percent of female students already had higher serum cortisol than normal in the first sample. The academic performance and health were Physiology examination was higher in the group 1+3 than the group 2+4 (p=0.034). Two students, one who was in the group 2 with increased serum cortisol and the other who was in the group 3 with decreased serum cortisol, developed psychological problems in the following year.