Effect of sleep deprivation on finger dexterity in resident doctors

Abstract

Background: Prolonged resident duty hours may affect patient care. There are no restrictions to the amount of hours a resident can work which may lead to medical errors and lapses in patient care. Aims and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the effect of sleep deprivation (SD) on finger dexterity at different intervals of SD during the residents' on-call period and to identify the duration after which these effects begin. We further tested if this decline correlated with the subjective assessment of sleepiness. Materials and Methods: The finger dexterity was measured by the O'Connor dexterity apparatus, and subjective sleepiness assessment was carried out using pictorial sleepiness scale in 30 resident doctors at 6 h intervals during their on-call period which lasted for 24 h. Results: The finger dexterity was significantly decreased at the end of the 24 h duty period as compared to the baseline. This deterioration began after being on-call for 12 h and progressed thereafter. The changes in finger dexterity correlated negatively with the subjective sleepiness assessment. Conclusion: 24 h of SD during on-call duty significantly decreases the finger dexterity in resident doctors. This might be a major cause of medical errors and hamper patient safety.

Multiple caffeine doses maintain vigilance, attention, complex motor sequence expression, and manual dexterity during 77 hours of total sleep deprivation

“…Despite their occupational importance, these capacities have been much less extensively studied in the context of SD than vigilance and cognitive performance. Limited evidence suggests that manual dexterity and surgical performance among physicians can be adversely affected by even a single night of SD ( Hirkani and Yogi, 2017 ; Banfi et al, 2019 ). Similarly, SD affects several aspects of marksmanship involving psychomotor coordination, including target detection time, sighting time, and shooting accuracy ( McLellan et al, 2005b ; Tikuisis et al, 2004 ; Tharion et al, 2003 ).…”

Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Surgeons Dexterity

“…The bimanual fine motor coordination measured using the Purdue pegboard task was found to be impaired during SD in one study (156); however, it was observed substantially unchanged in another one where pegboard testing changed significantly only in the bimanual subtask (157). Another study using the O'Connor dexterity apparatus (158), found that after a 24-h call, finger dexterity changed in a pejorative way. A previous study used a comparable hand-eye coordination test but no differences were detected in the scores obtained across the two conditions (159).…”

Quality of Sleep and Its Correlates among Yemeni Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In addition to the academic demands, other factors can be associated with poor sleep quality among medical students such as late-night internet usage and poor knowledge of sleep hygiene [ 9 , 10 ]. Inadequate sleep duration and poor quality of sleep among medical students and health professionals in general are associated with poor concentration [ 11 ], reduced motor brain functioning [ 12 ], impaired behaviour [ 13 ], and lower academic performance. Additionally, professionals and medical students who suffer poor sleep tend to have a higher risk of misjudgements [ 14 ], accidents, burnout [ 15 ], anxiety, depression [ 16 , 17 ], and substance abuse [ 9 ].…”