Impact of sleep on medical residents’ emotions: A cross-sectional study using a wearable device

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Controlling negative emotions and getting sufficient sleep are key factors in reducing medical errors and optimizing quality of care. The objective of this study was to measure the relationship between the emotions of medical residents and sleep as measured by a wearable device. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study addressing all residents of all postgraduation years and specialties at an Accreditation for Graduate Medical Educations-I accredited institution over 6 months. Sleep quantity and quality were measured by Fitbit Charge 2 device, and daily emotions by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule questionnaire. RESULTS: We included a total of 45 participants with a total of 1,112 obser-vations (response rate=19.3%). The mean duration of total daily sleep was 5.9±1.6 hours, with a deep sleep time of 1.1±0.4 hours. We found a negative association between negative emotions and total sleep (rrm =-0.14, P