Clinical trial NCT06714422: Apples in Night Shift
Official title: Should Doctors Bring an Apple to Have a More Relaxed Night Shift?: a Single Center, Open Label, Randomized Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Night Work
Keywords: night shift
apple
doctor
emergency department
Lead sponsor: Peking University Third Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2024-12-03
Enrollment: 60
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 20
Maximum age (years): 40
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Background: Emergency doctors face a highly stressful work environment during night shifts. Long-term night shift work can lead to sleep deprivation, fatigue accumulation, and disruption of the biological clock, which may affect doctors' work efficiency and physical and mental health. There are various health interventions for night shift doctors, one of which is an interesting practice of carrying an apple as a symbol of the "night shift deity" to relieve anxiety and improve work efficiency. Although this behavior is not supported by sufficient scientific evidence, it has become a common habit among some doctors during night shifts due to its simplicity, low risk, and ritualistic nature.

Objective: To assess whether carrying an apple during night shifts can significantly reduce fatigue, decrease work intensity, and enhance work experience for emergency doctors.

Design: Single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial.

Participants: several doctors with a total of 60 emergency working night shifts.

Primary Outcome: Average number of patients per night shift.

Sample Size: The study plans to recruit several doctors with a total of 60 emergency night shifts and randomly assign them to the experimental group and the control group. One doctor can be randomized for many times.

Detailed description: Background: Emergency doctors face a highly stressful work environment during night shifts. Long-term night shift work can lead to sleep deprivation, fatigue accumulation, and disruption of the biological clock, which may affect doctors' work efficiency and physical and mental health. There are various health interventions for night shift doctors, one of which is an interesting practice of carrying an apple as a symbol of the "night shift deity" to relieve anxiety and improve work efficiency. Although this behavior is not supported by sufficient scientific evidence, it has become a common habit among some doctors during night shifts due to its simplicity, low risk, and ritualistic nature.

Objective: To assess whether carrying an apple during night shifts can significantly reduce fatigue, decrease work intensity, and enhance work experience for emergency doctors.

Design: Single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial.

Participants: several doctors with a total of 60 emergency working night shifts.

Primary Outcome: Average number of patients per night shift.

Sample Size: The study plans to recruit several doctors with a total of 60 emergency night shifts and randomly assign them to the experimental group and the control group. One doctor can be randomized for many times.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Doctors who have a night shift in the emergency department of gynaecology with at least two weeks experience.

Exclusion Criteria:

Doctors who refuse to join the study

Primary outcomes:
measure: number of patients
timeFrame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Evaluation of night shifts
timeFrame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day
measure: Emergency admissions
timeFrame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day
measure: Emergency surgery number
timeFrame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day
measure: Emergency uterine evacuation number
timeFrame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day
measure: Complicated patients number
timeFrame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day
measure: Doctor's break time
timeFrame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day
measure: Number of patients admitted to emergency room
timeFrame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day
Other outcomes:
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