Effect of working consecutive night shifts on sleep time, prior wakefulness, perceived levels of fatigue and performance on a psychometric test in emergency registrars.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of working consecutive night shifts on sleep time, prior wakefulness, perceived levels of fatigue and psychomotor performance in a group of Australian emergency registrars.


METHODS
A prospective observational study with a repeated within-subjects component was conducted. Sleep time was determined using sleep diaries and activity monitors. Subjective fatigue levels and reciprocal reaction times were evaluated before and after day and night shifts.


RESULTS
A total of 11 registrars participated in the study with 120 shifts analysed. Sleep time was found to be similar during consecutive night and day shifts. The mean number of hours spent awake before the end of a night shift was 14.33. Subjective fatigue scores were worst at the end of a night shift. There was no difference in reciprocal reaction time between the end of night shift and the start of day shift.


CONCLUSIONS
Registrars sleep a similar amount of time surrounding night and day shifts. Despite reporting the highest levels of fatigue at the end of a night shift, there is no significant difference in reaction times at the end of night shift compared with the beginning of day shift. This correlates with the finding that at the end of night shift the registrars have been awake for less than 16 h, which is the point at which psychomotor performance is expected to decline.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Royal Hobart Hospital, Liverpool St., Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. julia.haire@dhhs.tas.gov.au
Julia Christine Lydia
JC
Haire
Sally Anne
SA
Ferguson
James D
JD
Tilleard
Paul
P
Negus
Jillian
J
Dorrian
Matthew Jw
MJ
Thomas
D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D005221:Fatigue; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012890:Sleep; D014851:Wakefulness; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D016526:Workload