Of the 33 orthopedic residents selected for participation in the study, 27 completed the study. Residents recorded when they slept and were awake over a two-week period, and the data was processed using the sleep, activity, fatigue and task effectiveness model. A daily questionnaire was used to analyze mental fatigue.
The researchers found:
• Residents were fatigued during 48 percent of their awake time.
• Residents were impaired during 27 percent of their awake time.
• Average daily sleep was 5.3 hours.
• Resident fatigue was predicted to increase medical error risk by 22 percent.
• Night-float residents were more impaired and had greater risk for medical error.
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