The Impact of Night Float on Anesthesiology Resident Sleep Patterns

April 26, 2021 updated by: Lauren Dunn, MD, University of Virginia

Residency training requires hospital presence twenty-four hours a day. At times this necessitates working extended shifts, including night shifts, resulting in altered sleep patterns and sleep deprivation. Since 2003, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has enforced duty hour regulations limiting shift length, the amount of weekly hours worked, and other variables governing shift work. Numerous studies have sought to determine the impact of duty hour regulations on the quality of patient care and resident education.

In addition to affecting patient care, medical resident sleep deprivation also has the potential to affect residents' well-being and their ability to perform basic tasks. A study in surgical residents showed reduced efficiency and safety in performing simulated laparoscopy following a period of sleep deprivation that was worse with novices compared to experienced residents. Recently, UVA found that resident physicians have greater difficulty controlling speed and driving performance with increased reaction times and minor and major lapses in attention in the driving simulator following six consecutive night shifts.

To comply with duty hour restrictions, residency programs have adopted various strategies including the creation of night float systems where residents are required to work multiple nights in a row. Reduced shift length has been associated with decreased medical errors, motor vehicle collisions, and percutaneous injuries.Surgical residents who transitioned to a night float system from 24-hour call every 3rd day reported reduced fatigue, more time for sleep and independent reading and increased family time, while nurses and patients reported improved communication and quality of patient care. In a pilot study of urology residents assigned to a 12-hour day shift (Monday-Friday), 12-hour night float (Sunday-Friday) or 24-hour home call, actigraphy was used to measure total sleep time, sleep latency and depth of sleep. Night float did not impact total sleep time or quality of sleep. However, these studies did not establish the optimal shift duration

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Participants wear a portable EEG monitor and a FITBIT activity monitor while attempting to sleep while on night call and at home for a baseline reading

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

20

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Virginia
      • Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, 22908
        • University of Virginia Health System

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Postgraduate year (PGY) 2, 3, and 4 Anesthesia residents

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • postgraduate year (PGY) 2, 3, and 4 Anesthesia residents

Exclusion Criteria:

  • history of pacemaker or other medical device
  • unable or unwilling to consent and comply with the protocol
  • history of sleep disorder

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
All participants
All participants will use a portable EEG monitor and FITBIT to monitor sleep and activity before and after night call
Other: EEG monitor
sleep patterns will be monitored using EEG monitor
Other: FitBit
activity levels will be monitored

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
sleep time
Time Frame: daily over 13 day period (Day 1 -Day 12)
total sleep time as measured by EEG monitor
daily over 13 day period (Day 1 -Day 12)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
activity level
Time Frame: daily over 13 day period (Day 1-Day 12)
• as measured by activity monitor
daily over 13 day period (Day 1-Day 12)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Virginia

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Lauren Dunn, MD, University of Virginia Depaertment of Anesthesiolgy

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 7, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 19, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

January 19, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 7, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 24, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

October 30, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 27, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 26, 2021

Last Verified

April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 11590

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm

Clinical Trials on EEG monitor

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Argentina

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe