Differential Impact of Work Overload on Physicians' Attention: A Comparison Between Residential Fields

Medical errors cause tens of thousands of deaths annually and have a major impact on quality of care and management; however, it receives scant research and public awareness. This study aimed to examine the relation between workload-induced lack of sleep and attention failure, as indications for medical errors risk, among young residents.

We performed an evaluation of young physicians by the Test of Variables of Attention, before and after a 24-hour shift.

Workload was manifested by 13% overall attention impairment at baseline, which increased to 34% with deficiencies below the normal range after the shift. Attention measures differed between physicians of each residential field at baseline, but to greater extent after the shift.

Traditional working schedule is strongly associated with attention failure. Based on the literature linking attention failures to medical errors, we suggest a regulatory change regarding residents' shift duration to decrease preventable errors.