title: Evaluation of pharmacy resident alertness in an overnight on-call program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Results of a study to determine the impact of overnight on-call duty on pharmacy residents' alertness are presented.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective single-site observational study was conducted to evaluate sleep patterns and alertness levels among pharmacy residents serving 24-hour on-call duty assignments at a large hospital. The study participants (n = 10) wore a wrist actigraph to allow continuous tracking of rest-activity patterns; in addition, study participants completed a validated three-minute psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) during designated time periods around the beginning and the end of each duty shift and several hours after the shift ended. Study participants also documented sleep quality and quantity in a sleep log and self-rated their level of alertness using the Karolinska sleepiness scale (KSS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Assessments were conducted for a total of 31 on-call duty shifts over one month. Paired comparisons of PVT data obtained at the three assessment periods indicated that on-call duty was not associated with significant changes in PVT performance measures (mean response speed and number of attention lapses). On average, on-call residents rated the quality of sleep during duty assignments as 5 on a 10-point Likert scale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  On-call residents slept for a mean of six hours during overnight duty shifts, with half of the residents reporting sleep interruptions (a mean of 1.73 per shift). PVT results and KSS values indicated no overall decline in resident alertness during the study period.
authors.affiliation: Michael Knauss, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist, Grady Health System, Atlanta, GA. C. Lea Bonner, Pharm.D., is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Mercer University College of Pharmacy, Atlanta. John Patka, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist; and Prasad Abraham, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist, Grady Health System. mknauss@gmh.edu.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knauss
authors.affiliation: Michael Knauss, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist, Grady Health System, Atlanta, GA. C. Lea Bonner, Pharm.D., is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Mercer University College of Pharmacy, Atlanta. John Patka, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist; and Prasad Abraham, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist, Grady Health System.
authors.forename: C Lea
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Bonner
authors.affiliation: Michael Knauss, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist, Grady Health System, Atlanta, GA. C. Lea Bonner, Pharm.D., is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Mercer University College of Pharmacy, Atlanta. John Patka, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist; and Prasad Abraham, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist, Grady Health System.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patka
authors.affiliation: Michael Knauss, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist, Grady Health System, Atlanta, GA. C. Lea Bonner, Pharm.D., is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Mercer University College of Pharmacy, Atlanta. John Patka, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist; and Prasad Abraham, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist Specialist, Grady Health System.
authors.forename: Prasad
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abraham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064172:Pharmacy Residencies / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult