Clinical trial NCT00874510: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Mandatory Naps for Physicians in Training
Official title: Interventions to Improve Fatigue Management Among Physician Trainees
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE3
Conditions: Fatigue
Keywords: sleep deprivation
fatigue
Lead sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
Sponsor class: FED
Collaborators: name: University of Pennsylvania
First posted: 2009-04-02
Enrollment: 352
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: This study will consist of a randomized controlled trial in which the investigators test the feasibility and effectiveness of mandatory nap programs for physicians in training. One site will be the general medical service of the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The other will be the oncology service of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The primary outcome will be the amount slept while on call. The first year will test the efficacy of a 5 hour mandatory nap schedule, the second year will test the efficacy of a 3 hour mandatory nap schedule.

Detailed description: Background: The release of the Institute of Medicine report on resident work hours and patient safety highlighted the risks to patient and resident safety of extended duty on-call shifts.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility and effectiveness of mandatory naps during extended duty overnight shifts for residents.

Methods: For each site (PVAMC and HUP), every other month residents will be randomized to either work the standard schedule (which involves interns being on duty for 30 continuous hours) vs. the mandatory nap schedule, which involves interns signing out their beepers for 5 hours in the middle of the night to covering night floats and for 3 hours in Year 2. The primary outcome will be the amount slept as measured by actigraphs, with secondary outcomes of cognitive alertness measured by 3-minute psychomotor vigilance testing (PVT), Stanford sleepiness Scale, and other measures of resident and patient well-being.

Status: Recruitment complete, analyses phase only

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Residents in the University of Pennsylvania Internal Medicine Training Program who are rotating through either Philadelphia VA Medical Center Medical Service or Hospital of University of Pennsylvania Oncology Service

Exclusion Criteria:

* Refusal to consent to participate

Primary outcomes:
measure: Hours Slept on Overnight Extended Duty Call Shifts
timeFrame: 12 months
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: VA Medical Center, Philadelphia
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: VA Medical Center, Philadelphia
name: Kevin G. Volpp, MD PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Volpp KG, Shea JA, Small DS, Basner M, Zhu J, Norton L, Ecker A, Novak C, Bellini LM, Dine CJ, Mollicone DJ, Dinges DF. Effect of a protected sleep period on hours slept during extended overnight in-hospital duty hours among medical interns: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2012 Dec 5;308(21):2208-17. doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.34490.
citation: Halpern SD, Kohn R, Dornbrand-Lo A, Metkus T, Asch DA, Volpp KG. Lottery-based versus fixed incentives to increase clinicians' response to surveys. Health Serv Res. 2011 Oct;46(5):1663-74. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2011.01264.x. Epub 2011 Apr 14.
citation: Shea JA, Dinges DF, Small DS, Basner M, Zhu J, Norton L, Ecker AJ, Novak C, Bellini LM, Dine CJ, Mollicone DJ, Volpp KG. A randomized trial of a three-hour protected nap period in a medicine training program: sleep, alertness, and patient outcomes. Acad Med. 2014 Mar;89(3):452-9. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000144.
citation: Basner M, Dinges DF, Shea JA, Small DS, Zhu J, Norton L, Ecker AJ, Novak C, Bellini LM, Volpp KG. Sleep and Alertness in Medical Interns and Residents: An Observational Study on the Role of Extended Shifts. Sleep. 2017 Apr 1;40(4):zsx027. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsx027.