[Effects of work hour regulations in France as perceived by cardiology residents].
BACKGROUND
Work-hour restrictions (WHR) were implemented in France in September 2002, forbidding residents to work for 11 hours following a night call. The purpose of this study was to determine residents' perception of the consequences of WHR on their training, well-being and patient care.


METHODS
A self-administered survey was e-mailed to all French cardiology residents (n=413)in June 2007.186 (45%) returned the questionnaire.


RESULTS
Most residents reported spending less time in the hospital but did not believe they missed educational experiences. On the contrary they feel more receptive to learning and use some of the extra time out of the hospital for reading medical literature. Overall, WHR do not influence residents' satisfaction with their training (P>0.05). Residents believe that patient care has been unaffected or maybe improved: 75% declare they are less likely to make errors due to fatigue and 58% never cut corners in patient care after their night call. However, residents' perception of their commitment to patient care may not reflect reality: indeed, 78% of residents feel that attendings believe commitment was higher before the implementation of WHR. Finally, residents report that WHR had a positive effect on their well-being, feeling less exhausted and less under pressure. Overall, 83% of residents consider that consequences of WHR are beneficial for the patient.


CONCLUSIONS
Cardiology residents report that implementation of WHR lead to benefits to their well-being and probably patient care, without negative effects on their education.
Moubarak
Ghassan
G
Service de cardiologie, hôpital Lariboisière, 75010 Paris. ghassan.moubarak@gmail.com
Leenhardt
Antoine
A
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002309:Cardiology / Q000193:education*; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload