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Sleep and recovery in physicians on night call: a longitudinal field study.

Malmberg, Birgitta LU ; Kecklund, Göran ; Karlson, Björn LU ; Persson, Roger LU orcid ; Flisberg, Per LU and Örbaek, Palle LU (2010) In BMC Health Services Research 10.
Abstract
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: It is well known that physicians' night-call duty may cause impaired performance and adverse effects on subjective health, but there is limited knowledge about effects on sleep duration and recovery time. In recent years occupational stress and impaired well-being among anaesthesiologists have been frequently reported for in the scientific literature. Given their main focus on handling patients with life-threatening conditions, when on call, one might expect sleep and recovery to be negatively affected by work, especially in this specialist group. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a 16-hour night-call schedule allowed for sufficient recovery in anaesthesiologists compared with other physician... (More)
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: It is well known that physicians' night-call duty may cause impaired performance and adverse effects on subjective health, but there is limited knowledge about effects on sleep duration and recovery time. In recent years occupational stress and impaired well-being among anaesthesiologists have been frequently reported for in the scientific literature. Given their main focus on handling patients with life-threatening conditions, when on call, one might expect sleep and recovery to be negatively affected by work, especially in this specialist group. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a 16-hour night-call schedule allowed for sufficient recovery in anaesthesiologists compared with other physician specialists handling less life-threatening conditions, when on call. METHODS: Sleep, monitored by actigraphy and Karolinska Sleep Diary/Sleepiness Scale on one night after daytime work, one night call, the following first and second nights post-call, and a Saturday night, was compared between 15 anaesthesiologists and 17 paediatricians and ear, nose, and throat surgeons. RESULTS: Recovery patterns over the days after night call did not differ between groups, but between days. Mean night sleep for all physicians was 3 hours when on call, 7 h both nights post-call and Saturday, and 6 h after daytime work (p < 0.001). Scores for mental fatigue and feeling well rested were poorer post-call, but returned to Sunday morning levels after two nights' sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Despite considerable sleep loss during work on night call, and unexpectedly short sleep after ordinary day work, the physicians' self-reports indicate full recovery after two nights' sleep. We conclude that these 16-hour night duties were compatible with a short-term recovery in both physician groups, but the limited sleep duration in general still implies a long-term health concern. These results may contribute to the establishment of safe working hours for night-call duty in physicians and other health-care workers. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMC Health Services Research
volume
10
article number
239
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • wos:000282803000001
  • pmid:20712854
  • scopus:77955501798
  • pmid:20712854
ISSN
1472-6963
DOI
10.1186/1472-6963-10-239
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
146c7db6-3e83-4413-a195-a147e3cbd6ff (old id 1665254)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20712854?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 09:08:02
date last changed
2022-03-07 23:11:10
@article{146c7db6-3e83-4413-a195-a147e3cbd6ff,
  abstract     = {{ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: It is well known that physicians' night-call duty may cause impaired performance and adverse effects on subjective health, but there is limited knowledge about effects on sleep duration and recovery time. In recent years occupational stress and impaired well-being among anaesthesiologists have been frequently reported for in the scientific literature. Given their main focus on handling patients with life-threatening conditions, when on call, one might expect sleep and recovery to be negatively affected by work, especially in this specialist group. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a 16-hour night-call schedule allowed for sufficient recovery in anaesthesiologists compared with other physician specialists handling less life-threatening conditions, when on call. METHODS: Sleep, monitored by actigraphy and Karolinska Sleep Diary/Sleepiness Scale on one night after daytime work, one night call, the following first and second nights post-call, and a Saturday night, was compared between 15 anaesthesiologists and 17 paediatricians and ear, nose, and throat surgeons. RESULTS: Recovery patterns over the days after night call did not differ between groups, but between days. Mean night sleep for all physicians was 3 hours when on call, 7 h both nights post-call and Saturday, and 6 h after daytime work (p &lt; 0.001). Scores for mental fatigue and feeling well rested were poorer post-call, but returned to Sunday morning levels after two nights' sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Despite considerable sleep loss during work on night call, and unexpectedly short sleep after ordinary day work, the physicians' self-reports indicate full recovery after two nights' sleep. We conclude that these 16-hour night duties were compatible with a short-term recovery in both physician groups, but the limited sleep duration in general still implies a long-term health concern. These results may contribute to the establishment of safe working hours for night-call duty in physicians and other health-care workers.}},
  author       = {{Malmberg, Birgitta and Kecklund, Göran and Karlson, Björn and Persson, Roger and Flisberg, Per and Örbaek, Palle}},
  issn         = {{1472-6963}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Health Services Research}},
  title        = {{Sleep and recovery in physicians on night call: a longitudinal field study.}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5240678/1690261.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/1472-6963-10-239}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}