Resident Sleep During Traditional Home Call Compared to Night Float

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Sleep Medicine
• Ophthalmology

Background:

• Physician sleep deprivation is a significant concern in medical training.
• Traditional home call schedules are associated with reduced sleep and potential patient safety risks.
• Night float systems aim to mitigate sleep deprivation by consolidating call duties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare sleep patterns of ophthalmology residents on a partial night float rotation versus traditional home call.
• To assess the impact of night float and home call on overall sleep duration and quality.

Main Methods:

• A crossover observational study involving seven postgraduate year-2 ophthalmology residents.
• Sleep patterns were monitored using Fitbit Alta HR devices over 5-week night float and 10-week home call rotations.
• Mixed model regression analysis compared sleep during night float, home call, and periods without call.

Main Results:

• Residents slept significantly more during periods without call responsibilities compared to both night float and home call (p < 0.001).
• Overall sleep duration was greater during night float rotations than home call rotations (p = 0.008).
• More sleep was recorded during postcall naps on night float, contributing to increased overall sleep while on call (p = 0.016).

Conclusions:

• Partial night float systems can improve resident sleep by facilitating sleep recovery during time off from clinical duties.
• Night float rotations may offer a better sleep profile for residents compared to traditional home call schedules.
• Further research into optimizing resident sleep schedules is warranted to enhance well-being and performance.