Balance Performance of Post-Call Medical Residents.

Background: Fatigue is thought of as a leading cause of iatrogenic accidents. A significant deterioration in qualitative balance function has been shown in sleep deprived individuals.

Aim/objectives: To quantify the degree to which balance is impaired by sleep deprivation (SD) in post-call medical residents.

Methods: Medical residents voluntarily underwent computed dynamic posturography (CDP) before and after an on-call night, at an identical time of the day. Order of test performance was random to avoid behavioral learning. Each participant served as his or her own control.

Results: Seventeen residents were enrolled (median age 32years). Average sleeping duration the night before and during the night shift was 6.5 and 1 hour, respectively. The average response times difference between alert and fatigued was 10.15 milliseconds (95% CI: 6.81-13.49 milliseconds), yielding a significantly prolonged response times from 120 milliseconds before to 130 milliseconds after the night shift ( < .001). Comparison of additional measurements of CDP performance did not differ between test conditions.

Conclusion: Medical residents are fatigued due to the effect of on-call nights. Sleep deprivation prolongs response times to vestibular stimuli. This finding probably has an effect on execution of manual skills and may reflect a more generalized slowing of responses and overall performance impairment.

Significance: The vestibular system is susceptible to SD.