Irritability during the month of Ramadan

Objectives: We hypothesized that people in Morocco are more irritable durin g the month of Ramadan than during the rest of the year. Our objectives wer e to measure irritability in fasting Muslims during the month of Ramadan, t o describe its various modes of expression, and to examine risk factors fur this irritability. Methods and Subjects: We studied 100 healthy volunteers during the month of Ramadan for two successive years (1994 and 1995). All subjects were male (mean age, 32 +/- 5.8 years), and 51% of them were smoke rs. Irritability was assessed over a g-week period (before, four times duri ng, and after the end of Ramadan). We assessed both subjective (visual anal og scale) and objective irritability. We also recorded the consumption of p sychostimulants, duration of sleep, and anxiety level as measured by the Ha milton Anxiety Scale. Results: Irritability was significantly higher in smo kers than in nonsmokers before the beginning of Ramadan. It was higher in b oth groups during the Ramadan month. Irritability increased continuously du ring Ramadan and reached its peak at the end of the month. Consumption of p sychostimulants (coffee and tea) and anxiety level followed the same patter n. Smokers and nonsmokers had a similar pattern of irritability over time, but irritability increased more in smokers than in nonsmokers.