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Sleepy Doctors a Menace on the Road, Study Finds

September 7, 2005
It's long been feared that sleepy interns and residents are a menace to patients. Now a study finds that sleepy doctors-in-training are also a menace on the road. Researchers found that 90-hour weeks left doctors too impaired to drive home safely.

The study published in the JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, said it's another reason to ensure that doctors get adequate rest.

The researchers from Brown University and the University of Michigan analysed 34 trainee doctors -- both before and after they worked a month of 44-hour weeks in clinics with no night shifts.

Tests were carried out before and after they consumed three vodka and tonics within 30 minutes.

In the second session, they were tested on the day after a night shift at the end of a month of 90-hour weeks on wards or in the intensive care unit, including night shifts every fourth or fifth night without having had an alcoholic drink.

Similar impairments were seen in the doctors' vigilance, attention, and driving skills in standardized tests after the shorter working weeks plus a few drinks - when they had a blood alcohol count of 0.04% (half the legal limit in most US states) - and after 90-hour weeks with no alcohol.

Sleep diaries and automated wristbands, which responded to movement, were used to assess how much rest the doctors had. Those who worked longer weeks had significantly less sleep per night than those working the lighter shifts - even when they were not on duty overnight.

"Our study, like others before it, does raise concerns about the performance of sleep deprived physicians-in-training and suggests that strategies aimed at reducing fatigue-related impairments are likely necessary."

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