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Multi-center Clinical Trial of Limiting Resident Work Hours on ICU Patient Safety

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Physician Fatigue
Interventions
Other: SCS intervention schedule
Registration Number
NCT02134847
Lead Sponsor
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brief Summary

In this proposal, we seek to address conclusively two knowledge gaps: 1) the lack of data on the relationship between PGY2+ (post graduate year 2) sleep deprivation and patient safety; and 2) the lack of data on the relationship between resident sleep deprivation and preventable patient injuries. Through the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA)-funded Sleep Research Network, the largest and only federally-funded sleep science network in the U.S., we propose conducting a multi-center randomized crossover trial in six pediatric ICUs staffed by PGY2 and PGY3 residents. We will compare rates of all serious errors (i.e., rates of harmful and other serious medical errors due to any cause, including but not limited to fatigue-related errors, handoff errors, and provider knowledge deficits) of a sleep and circadian science-based (SCS) intervention schedule with a traditional schedule that includes frequent shifts of 24 hours or longer. Our specific aims will be:

1. To test the hypothesis that PGY2\&3 residents working on an SCS intervention schedule will make significantly fewer harmful medical errors (preventable adverse events) and other serious medical errors (near misses) while caring for ICU patients than residents working on a traditional schedule; (primary endpoints: resident-related preventable adverse events and near misses)

2. To test the hypothesis that rates of harmful medical errors (preventable adverse events) and other serious medical errors (near misses) throughout the ICU (i.e., those involving and those not involving residents) will be lower in ICUs when PGY2\&3 residents work on an SCS intervention schedule than when residents work on a traditional schedule; (major secondary endpoints: ICU-wide preventable adverse events and near misses)

3. To test the hypothesis that resident physicians' risk of neurobehavioral performance failures and motor vehicle crashes - as assessed through simple visual reaction time tasks \[Johns Drowsiness Score (JDS) and Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) lapses\] - will be lower on the SCS intervention schedule than on the traditional schedule. (major secondary endpoints: resident neurobehavioral performance and predicted driving safety)

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
413
Inclusion Criteria
  • Must be a second or third year resident of pediatrics or a combined pediatrics program
Exclusion Criteria

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
CROSSOVER
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Intervention cohortSCS intervention scheduleThis cohort will work on the SCS intervention schedule
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
resident-related preventable adverse events and near misses.Each resident (subject) will be observed for 1 month.

PGY2\&3 residents working on an SCS intervention schedule will make significantly fewer harmful medical errors (preventable adverse events) and other serious medical errors (near misses) while caring for ICU patients than residents working on a traditional schedule;(primary endpoints: resident-related preventable adverse events and near misses)

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Risk of resident motor vehicle crashes (MVC)Subjects will be monitored while they drive to/from work for 1 month.

Fatigue during the commute to and from work, as assessed by the John's drowsiness scale (JDS), will be lower on the SCS schedule than the traditional schedule, making MVC's less likely during the time on the SCS schedule.

ICU-wide preventable adverse events and near missesEach participating PICU will be studied for 8 months on each of the schedules (16 months total).

Rates of harmful medical errors (preventable adverse events) and other serious medical errors (near misses) throughout the ICU (i.e., those involving and those not involving residents) will be lower in ICUs when PGY2\&3 residents work on an SCS intervention schedule than when residents work on a traditional schedule.

resident neurobehavioral performance.Subjects will be tested 3-5 times per week for 1 month.

Resident physicians' risk of neurobehavioral performance failures as assessed through simple visual reaction time tasks \[Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) lapses\] - will be lower on the SCS intervention schedule than on the traditional schedule.

Trial Locations

Locations (6)

Childrens Hospital of Colorado

🇺🇸

Aurora, Colorado, United States

University of Iowa Hospital

🇺🇸

Iowa City, Iowa, United States

Cincinnati Childrens Hospital

🇺🇸

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Childrens Hospital Boston

🇺🇸

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Seattle Children's Hospital

🇺🇸

Seattle, Washington, United States

University of Virginia Health System

🇺🇸

Charlottesville, Virginia, United States

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