A new visual performance test offers new variables for assessing daytime vigilance: short pauses in performance.
A new visual performance test, VigiMouse, was evaluated with the aid of 6 volunteering pediatry residents. The results were compared with a visual analogue scale in differentiating four different states: mild sleep deprivation, low blood alcohol level, a combination of both, and the normal state. A normal night shift at a busy pediatric ward was chosen to represent sleep deprivation. A new set of parameters based on short pauses in performance proved to be more sensitive in detecting small changes in performance than parameters based on reaction times.
Jokinen
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Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland. tapio@clinilab.fi
Saarenpää-Heikkilä
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Laippala
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D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000502:physiology; D012984:Software
D000431:Ethanol