Abstract. For students, especially female students, knowledge assessment is stressful and is accompanied by an increase in anxiety levels. This affects the functional state of the nervous system and manifests as changes in psychophysiological indicators, including physiological tremor.

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of modular academic assessment on the amplitude and frequency of physiological hand tremor in female students during the perimenstrual period and outside this period.

Materials and Methods. The study involved 24 right-handed female students aged 18–20 years. Based on the calendar method for menstrual cycle tracking, participants were divided into two groups: 1) 10 students whose modular assessment took place during the perimenstrual period (−4 to +3 days of the menstrual cycle); and 2) 14 students whose modular assessment occurred outside the perimenstrual period. The frequency and amplitude of physiological tremor of the right and left hands were recorded immediately before the modular assessment using an MPU6050 accelerometer (InvenSense, China) in free and postural limb positions along the X, Y, and Z axes. Spectral characteristics were analyzed using the fast Fourier transform.

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association «Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects».

Results. Female students in the perimenstrual period demonstrated pronounced changes in the amplitude of physiological tremor of both the right and left hands in the postural position compared to the free position, with the most prominent changes observed in the right hand along the Z-axis. In the perimenstrual group, the increase in physiological tremor amplitude of the right hand in the postural position reached 245.76 % (p < 0.05), whereas in students assessed outside the perimenstrual period the increase was only 91.80 % (p < 0.05).

Conclusions. The obtained results indicate that stress associated with modular academic assessment exerts a stronger effect on the amplitude of physiological tremor in female students during the perimenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle.

Keywords: physiological tremor; academic stress; psycho-emotional stress; menstrual cycle

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