Abstracts

Rationale: Sleep patterns of resident-physicians and its relationship to occupational accidents have been widely documented. However, there have been few studies documenting the sleep patterns and disturbances among attending physicians and other healthcare providers. Methods: Methods: We conducted a survey about healthcare providers’ sleep patterns and described preliminary findings. The inclusion criteria included physicians, nurses and allied health providers who work at the NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. Results: There were 22 full-time healthcare providers included in the study. There were 9 physicians (7 neurologists, 2 neuropsychiatrists), 8 nurses, and 5 allied-health professionals. The mean age was 41.5 years, and 18 were women. Two nurses worked overnight or mixed shifts, along with three allied-health providers. Twenty respondents (91%) reported using caffeine during the day. On average, nurses (2.4 cups/day) and allied-health providers (3 cups/day) drank more caffeine than physicians (1.9 cups/day) did. Six respondents (27%) reported a history or diagnosis of a sleep disorder, with insomnia, restless legs, snoring, and bruxism being reported most frequently. None of the respondents reported having sleep problems develop before professional school. Three (14%, 1 physicians and 2 nurses) reported developing problems during professional school, and four (18%, 2 physicians and 2 nurses) reported developing sleep problems (mostly insomnia) after professional school. Physicians reported an average of 7 hours of sleep on working nights, and an average of 12 minutes to fall asleep. Nurses reported 5.9 hours of sleep, and an average of 21 minutes to fall asleep. All groups reported that they think that they needed longer sleep hours. Sixty-three percent of respondents reported as least some snoring during sleep, with nurses (86%) most likely to have this complaint. Five respondents (23%) reported very often feeling fatigued during the day, with another 14 (64%) reporting occasionally feeling fatigued during the day. Eight respondents (36%) reported using some sort of medication to help them fall asleep. The most commonly used sleep aid was Tylenol PM, followed by Benadryl, melatonin and Ambien. Conclusions: Attending physicians, nurses and allied-health providers at our Epilepsy Center reported a high percentage of sleep problems, daytime fatigue, and insufficient sleep. These problems may affect patient care.