Can we consider medical residents as shift workers?
Although medical residents are characterized by long working hours, night shifts and high levels of work load, it is unclear if their work schedule can be classified as shift work, or if it has a similar impact on residents' well-being. The present paper compared the profile of complaints about sleep or daytime functioning of medical residents to that of rotating shift workers and day workers, of similar ages. Sixty-one residents (aged: 32.2 +/- 2.2 years), after 2 years of residency, participated in the study. The two control groups with a similar age range (26-40 years) were chosen, and included 94 rotating shift workers and 146 day workers. All subjects completed self-administered questionnaires on their sleep habits, and their sleep-wake cycle was monitored by a wrist-worn actigraph. Ten percent of the residents complained about difficulties falling asleep, 34% complained about morning tiredness, 14% complained about mid-sleep awakening, and 20% about prolonged fatigue. The residents slept significantly less than the day workers, and their sleep efficiency was significantly higher. When examining their subjective complaints profile, residents complained more than day workers and their answers were more similar to those of rotating shift workers, therefore they can be considered to be characterized as shift workers.
Epstein
R
R
Research Center for Work Safety and Human Eng., Technion Haifa, Israel.
Tzischinsky
O
O
Herer
P
P
Lavie
P
P
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011210:Power Plants; D012307:Risk Factors; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D020178:Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000523:psychology*