Night Shift Decreases Cognitive Performance of ICU Physicians

http://www.wessexics.com/The_Bottom_Line/Review/index.php?id=6939319737589820303


interesting summary of article on affect of night shift on physician cognition

Maltese. Intensive Care Medicine (2016) 42:393-400 DOI 10.1007/s00134-4115-4
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• All cognitive abilities declined after night shift
• Working memory capacity(WMC)
• 9.5% lower after night shift (p<0 .001="" li="">
• Although the working memory capacity was higher in the physicians than the residents after a night of rest, there was no difference after a night shift 
• The number of hours slept on the night shift (<2 2-4="" or="">4 hours) did not impact WMC
• Information processing speed (IPS)
• 12.5% lower after night shift (p<0 .001="" li="">
• IPS was similar in physicians and residents after NR and NS
• The number of hours slept on the night shift did not impact IPS
• Perceptual reasoning (PR)
• 6.5% lower after night shift (p<0 .002="" li="">
• PR was significantly lower in residents compared with physicians after NS
• The number of hours slept on night shift did not impact PR
• Cognitive flexibility (CF)
• not statistically significantly lower after night shift (p=0.063)
• CF was significantly less in residents after NS
• CF was significantly less in physicians if sleep time was <2hrs li="" night="" on="" shift="">
• A correlation analysis was performed between the self-reported tiredness or attentional abilities by physicians and their actual performance. There was no significant correlation between the self-report and the cognitive evaluation

Authors' Conclusions

• All cognitive abilities worsened after night shift. The level of impairment did not differ based on seniority of the doctor or the hours of sleep obtained on the night shift. Doctors were found to be poor at self-evaluating their level of fatigue'