title: The effect of sleep deprivation on fine motor coordination in obstetrics and gynecology residents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of acute sleep deprivation on the fine motor coordination in obstetrics and gynecology residents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight obstetrics and gynecology residents completed a series of tasks using the Purdue pegboard standardized protocol for testing fine motor coordination both before and after a 24-hour call.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-three participants were women and 5 were men. There was a learning curve demonstrated for performance of the tasks. There was a statistically significant decline in performance of residents after overnight call. When adjusting for the learning curve, effects of sleep deprivation were magnified for all tasks: right (dominant) hand (P = .0005), left hand (P = .0020), both hands (P < .0001), and assembly (P < .0001). There were significant differences in performance when segregated by year of training and sex; female residents appeared to tolerate better lack of sleep.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acute sleep deprivation has a deleterious effect on fine motor coordination in this group of obstetrics and gynecology residents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Roy D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Ayalon
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Friedman
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000193:education*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000503:physiopathology*