Differences in the perceived impact of sleep deprivation among surgical and non-surgical residents

Objective Resident work hour restrictions have been mandated in the USA largely out of concern that sleep deprivation compromises doctor performance and patient care. However, individuals’ ability to recognise the effects of sleep deprivation has not been studied in medical education. We examined the perceived impact of sleep deprivation among different groups of postgraduate medical trainees. Methods A survey addressing work hours, sleepiness and daily functioning was mailed to all residents in the internal medicine, surgery and psychiatry programmes at the University of Toronto who were working at 6 different teaching hospitals. The mailing included the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), measuring acute sleepiness, and a new Sleep Deprivation Impact (SDI) scale, consisting of 12 items designed to measure the perceived impact of sleep deprivation on an individual’s own performance. Results Overall, 62.5% of surgery (95/152) and 59.5% of non‐surgery residents (194/326) completed the survey. Surgery residents reported working longer hours per week (83.0 versus 62.5 hours; P