Sleep survey of medical residents at a National University Hospital

Abstract

In order to ascertain the workload and lifestyle of medical residents prior to the introduction of a new medical resident training system, 102 residents at a national university hospital were monitored for four consecutive weeks to ascertain their life habits. Valid responses were obtained from 76% of the respondents for a total of 2,722 person days. It was found that the average length of sleep was 5.7 h on weekdays and 6.8 h on weekends. Of the 102 residents, 40% slept less than six hours a night and 17% slept less than five hours a night. The time spent sleeping was particularly short among surgical residents. Given that lack of sleep not only affects the health of the residents negatively, but also compromises the safety of medical care that they provide, the new medical residency training system will need to monitor and analyze the wellbeing, including sleep patterns, of medical residents.