Resident fatigue in 2010: Where is the beef?

BackgroundThe Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Common Program Requirements for all residency programs (effective July 1, 2011) will limit postgraduate year-1 duty hour length to 16 hours of call. Previous studies have shown some decrement in post-call task performance. We designed a study to evaluate if these decrements still exist in 2010 and to determine specifically when they occur.MethodsFourteen residents were tested on 4 simulator tasks during 5 separate call periods. These tasks were completed serially at 4 different time (T) intervals (T0, T12, T18, and T24) over a 24-hour period. Task performance was measured at each of these intervals. The residents completed a post-call survey.ResultsOver the 24-hour call there was a trend toward decreased time for the completion of tasks with preservation of accuracy and efficiency. The performance of some residents actually improved and there was minimal correlation between perceived fatigue and performance.ConclusionsThese data show no decrease in junior or senior resident task performance over a 24-hour call period, and do not support the 2011 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education maximum duty hour length of 16 hours.