Characterization of Medical Student Burnout Using Remote Physiologic Monitoring

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Wellness; Burnout; Remote Monitoring
• Interventions: Device: WHOOP strap 4.0 (partial data access); Device: WHOOP strap 4.0 (full data access)

• Registration Number: NCT05510102
• Lead Sponsor: Thomas Jefferson University

Brief Summary

A reliable method for monitoring stress and burnout among medical students is critically needed. To address this gap, our team aims to utilize the cost-effective WHOOP strap 4.0 wearable device to continuously capture stress-relevant physiologic data (i.e., sleep hours, heart rate variability, respiration rate, resting heart rate) among up to 50 third-year medical students at 24 Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University for 6 months.

Detailed Description

Aim 1: To determine whether physiologic metrics of sleep and heart rate variability correlate with subjective assessments of medical student wellness in a 6-month period.

Hypothesis: Less total sleep hours will correlate with higher scores for Perceived Stress Scale-4, Medical Student Well-Being Index, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9, but lower heart rate variability will correlate with higher scores on Perceived Stress Scale-4, Medical Student Well Being Index, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9.

Aim 2: To determine whether physiologic metrics of sleep and heart rate variability correlate with performance on shelf examinations for clinical rotations in a 6-month period.

Hypothesis: Less total sleep hours and lower heart rate variability will correlate with poorer performance on shelf examinations.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2022-08
• Study First Submitted: 2022-08-18
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-08-18
• Study Start: 2022-08-22
• Study First Posted: 2022-08-22
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-08-23
• Last Update Posted: 2022-08-24
• Primary Completion: 2023-02-22
• Study Completion: 2023-04-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 50

Inclusion Criteria

• Third-year medical student at Thomas Jefferson University
• ≥18 years of age
• Actively participating in family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, or emergency medicine rotations
• Own a smart phone for Bluetooth pairing with WHOOP strap 4.0

Exclusion Criteria

• Allergies, contraindications, or unwillingness to wear a wrist device for the study period

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Control group	WHOOP strap 4.0 (partial data access)	Subjects will be blinded to remote monitoring data for the first 3 months of the study followed by an unblinding and full access to remote monitoring data at the 3 month mark (continued for the remainder of the study).
Treatment group	WHOOP strap 4.0 (full data access)	Subjects will have full remote monitoring data access throughout the entirety of the study (6 months).

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Total sleep hours per night	180 days	Sleep (hours per night) will be objectively measured nightly.
Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI)	180 days	The MSWBI consists of 7 items, scored 0-7, with lower scores indicative of better medical student wellbeing. This survey will be administered biweekly.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Heart rate variability, nightly	180 days	Heart rate variability will be measured nightly by the WHOOP strap 4.0.
Pulse oximetry, nightly	180 days	Pulse oximetry will be measured nightly by the WHOOP strap 4.0.
Respiration rate, nightly	180 days	Respiration rate will be measured nightly by the WHOOP strap 4.0.
Deep sleep hours, nightly	180 days	Deep sleep hours will be measured nightly by the WHOOP strap 4.0.
REM sleep hours, nightly	180 days	REM sleep hours will be measured nightly by the WHOOP strap 4.0.
Average duty hours per week	180 days	Duty hours will be self-reported every week
Perceived Stress Scale-4	180 days	The PSS-4 consists of 4 items that assess perceived stress. The items are scored on a 4-point scale. This survey will be administered biweekly.
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)	180 days	The (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) PHQ-9 consists of 9 items that assess major depressive disorder. This survey will be administered biweekly. It is scored on a 0-27 scale with 27 representing most severe depression (worse outcomes).
Resting heart rate, nightly	180 days	Resting heart rate will be measured nightly by the WHOOP strap 4.0.
Body temperature, nightly	180 days	Body temperature will be measured nightly by the WHOOP strap 4.0.
Scores on shelf examinations	180 days	Subjects will self-report examination scores for shelf exams administered after each clinical rotation. Scores are reported on a 0-100 scale with 100 being the best score possible.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University; 🇺🇸 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States