Anesthesiology Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Anesthesiology, including details on clinical anesthesiology, evidence based practice, techniques. | ||||||||
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Post-duty psychomotor performance in young and senior anaesthetists.Lederer W, Kopp M, Hahn O, Kurzthaler I, Traweger C, Kinzl J, Benzer A Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria. wolfgang.lederer@uibk.ac.at BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The level of performance in junior and senior anaesthetists was investigated after 24-h shift working and on-call duties. METHODS: Pre- and post-duty psychomotor function, influence on response time, cognitive function and well-being in 23 individuals (13 junior and 12 senior anaesthetists) was assessed before and after 24-h in-house on-call duty. Subjective perception of tiredness and concentration abilities was estimated by applying a visual analogue scale. RESULTS: The self-assessed tiredness prior to duty was high in both age groups and significantly increased in senior anaesthetists after night duty (P = 0.01). Post-duty impairment of concentration abilities was reported in both groups. Comparing results from pre- and post-duty psychometric testing showed a comparable decline in junior and senior anaesthetists as well. Assessment of burnout showed a significant lack of personal accomplishment in junior anaesthetists as compared to their older colleagues (P = 0.038). Senior anaesthetists judged their contribution to patient well-being significantly higher than did their younger colleagues (P = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: Although tiredness and subjective impairment of concentration abilities was high in senior anaesthetists after 24-h in-house on-call duty, performance assessed by psychometric testing does not support the hypothesis that senior colleague's performance cannot keep up with routine hospital shift work. Published 24 January 2006 in Eur J Anaesthesiol, 23(3): 251-6.
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