(September 9, 2008 - Insidermedicine) Medical interns given too many patients get less sleep, work longer shifts, and are less available to participate in educational activities, according to research in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Sleep deprivation has been shown to:

•    Inhibit several types of higher-order intellectual activities, including the speed and accuracy with which tasks are performed.

•    Inhibit judgment, with sleep-deprived individuals performing more risky behaviors.

•    Contribute to several health problems.

Researchers from the University of Chicago studied 56 medical interns during over 1,000 nights during which they were on-call over a 2-year period. They looked at whether an increased workload affected their ability to sleep and participate in educational activities as well as the actual number of hours they worked.

Interns were on-call for about 30 hours, getting an average of 2.8 hours of sleep. Early in the academic year, every patient admitted while they were on-call reduced their sleep by an average of about 10 min and increased shift duration by about 13 min. Being on-call at night and early in the academic year was linked with the most sleep deprivation and longest work hours. The higher the number of previously admitted patients in the interns’ care during a shift, the less likely they were to participate in educational activities.

Today’s research highlights how current practices can lead to overwork and sleep deprivation among medical interns, affecting their ability to function and reducing their opportunities to participate in educational activities.

For Insidermedicine in Depth, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.