The effect of sleep deprivation on fine motor coordination in obstetrics and gynecology residents

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of acute sleep deprivation on the fine motor coordination in obstetrics and gynecology residents. Twenty-eight obstetrics and gynecology residents completed a series of tasks using the Purdue pegboard standardized protocol for testing fine motor coordination both before and after a 24-hour call. Twenty-three participants were women and 5 were men. There was a learning curve demonstrated for performance of the tasks. There was a statistically significant decline in performance of residents after overnight call. When adjusting for the learning curve, effects of sleep deprivation were magnified for all tasks: right (dominant) hand (P = .0005), left hand (P = .0020), both hands (P < .0001), and assembly (P < .0001). There were significant differences in performance when segregated by year of training and sex; female residents appeared to tolerate better lack of sleep. Acute sleep deprivation has a deleterious effect on fine motor coordination in this group of obstetrics and gynecology residents.