Post-duty psychomotor performance in young and senior anaesthetists.
OBJECTIVE
The level of performance in junior and senior anaesthetists was investigated after 24-h shift working and on-call duties.


METHODS
Pre- and post-duty psychomotor function, influence on response time, cognitive function and well-being in 23 individuals (13 junior and 12 senior anaesthetists) was assessed before and after 24-h in-house on-call duty. Subjective perception of tiredness and concentration abilities was estimated by applying a visual analogue scale.


RESULTS
The self-assessed tiredness prior to duty was high in both age groups and significantly increased in senior anaesthetists after night duty (P = 0.01). Post-duty impairment of concentration abilities was reported in both groups. Comparing results from pre- and post-duty psychometric testing showed a comparable decline in junior and senior anaesthetists as well. Assessment of burnout showed a significant lack of personal accomplishment in junior anaesthetists as compared to their older colleagues (P = 0.038). Senior anaesthetists judged their contribution to patient well-being significantly higher than did their younger colleagues (P = 0.035).


CONCLUSIONS
Although tiredness and subjective impairment of concentration abilities was high in senior anaesthetists after 24-h in-house on-call duty, performance assessed by psychometric testing does not support the hypothesis that senior colleague's performance cannot keep up with routine hospital shift work.
Lederer
W
W
Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria. wolfgang.lederer@uibk.ac.at
Kopp
M
M
Hahn
O
O
Kurzthaler
I
I
Traweger
C
C
Kinzl
J
J
Benzer
A
A
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000592:standards*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005425:Flicker Fusion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D005222:Mental Fatigue / Q000523:psychology; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology