Study of Diurnal Variation of Stature among MBBS students in a Medical College of Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Diurnal variation in stature is one potentially significant source of error in the evaluation of short term height. Diurnal decrease in stature  may affect the reliability of height measurement. The aim of the present study was to establish diurnal variation of stature, and to study the  nd degree of differences in daily height measurement. Atotal batch of 201 students of 2 MBBS from our institute was selected for the study.  But, on the day of the study, 4 students did not show up because of some medical and personal reasons. Hence, the study was conducted  over the remaining 197 students. The heights of the participants were measured twice in a day. The first measurements were taken between  08:00 AM to 09:00 AM, and the second measurements between 04:00 PM to 05:00 PM. The data collected was thoroughly screened and  subjected to statistical analysis. Results revealed diurnal variation in height among each individual and also significant difference in  diurnal variation of stature between male and female. There is a definite variation i.e., decrease in height of an individual during the course  of the day. There is also a gender difference in this variation of height i.e., males show greater height loss compared to females.