ArticleOccupational and environmental medicine2007
Work patterns and fatigue-related risk among junior doctors.
Article in Occupational and environmental medicine, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 135 citations in OpenAlex.
- Healthy working time arrangements for healthcare personnel and patients: a systematic literature review.BMC health services research · 2019Pooled it
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- High risk, low rest: a new framework for monitoring sleep vulnerability in emergency medicine.Frontiers in public health · 2025Observational
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- "Multivariate analysis of the impact of sleep and working hours on medical errors: a MICE approach".BMC public health · 2023Observational
- Sociotechnical Work System Approach to Occupational Fatigue.Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety · 2023Article
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- Constructing high-quality rest facilities to maximise performance and ensure patient safety.BMJ open quality · 2021Article
- Assessment of Need for Recovery and Its Relationship With Work Characteristics and Health in a Sample of Chinese Doctors: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Doctors' Mental Health in the Midst of COVID-19 Pandemic: The Roles of Work Demands and Recovery Experiences.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Fatigue and recovery among Malaysian doctors: the role of work-related activities during non-work time.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Dynamics in typewriting performance reflect mental fatigue during real-life office work.PloS one · 2020Article
- The Behavioral Biology of Teams: Multidisciplinary Contributions to Social Dynamics in Isolated, Confined, and Extreme Environments.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Review
- Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Surgeons Dexterity.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Review
- Physicians' Perspectives on Causes of Health Care Errors and Preventive Strategies: A Study in a Developing Country.Iranian journal of public health · 2018Article
- Sharp injuries: a cross-sectional study among health care workers in a provincial teaching hospital in China.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo reduce fatigue-related risk among junior doctors, recent initiatives in Europe and the USA have introduced limits on work hours. However, research in other industries has highlighted that other aspects of work patterns are important in generating fatigue, in addition to total work hours. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has proposed a more comprehensive fatigue risk management approach.
objectivesTo evaluate the work patterns of New Zealand junior doctors based on the AMA approach, examining relationships between different aspects of work and fatigue-related outcomes.
methodsAn anonymous questionnaire mailed to all house officers and registrars dealt with demographics, work patterns, sleepiness, fatigue-related clinical errors, and support for coping with work demands. Each participant was assigned a total fatigue risk score combining 10 aspects of work patterns and sleep in the preceding week.
resultsThe response rate was 63% (1366 questionnaires from doctors working > or =40 hours a week). On fatigue measures, 30% of participants scored as excessively sleepy (Epworth Sleepiness Score >10), 24% reported falling asleep driving home since becoming a doctor, 66% had felt close to falling asleep at the wheel in the past 12 months, and 42% recalled a fatigue-related clinical error in the past 6 months. Night work and schedule instability were independently associated with more fatigue measures than was total hours worked, after controlling for demographic factors, The total risk score was a significant independent risk factor for all fatigue measures, in a dose-dependent manner (all p<0.01). Regular access to adequate supervision at work reduced the risk of fatigue on all measures.
conclusionsTo reduce fatigue-related risk among junior doctors, account must be taken of factors in addition to total hours of work and duration of rest breaks. The AMA fatigue risk assessment model offers a useful example of a more comprehensive approach.
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