LAUSR

Introduction Medical residency in Mexico as in many other countries is a stressful experience. Sleep deprivation among other factors to which the resident is exposed are associated with various cognitive and emotional alterations. The impact of prolonged awake in the lives of residents is already well described, the present study aims to demonstrate with an objective neurophysiological parameter (P300) cognitive alterations, particularly in selective attention, presented by resident physicians after a night shift comparing them against themselves after a night of rest and against a control group not exposed to acute or chronic sleep restriction. Methods An observational study was carried out with 40 participant cohorts and controls, 20 for the control group without sleep restriction who underwent P300 before and after a night of physiological sleep; and 20 resident physicians of different specialties at the ABC Medical Center in Mexico city, in whom P300 were performed before and after a night shift, to analyze changes in latency and amplitude associated with acute sleep deprivation. Results The mean age for residents was 29.65 ± 2.85 years and for the control group 30.30 ± 2.95 years. The mean latency for residents was 302.04 ± 23.86 ms vs 292.11 ± 36.35 ms in controls (p0.272); for amplitude was 5.52 ± 2.97  μ V in the residents group vs 6.50 ± 4.02  μ V in controls (p 0.161). When we compared latency and amplitude among the residents before and after a night shift, a mean latency of 300.63 ± 23.16 ms was found in the pre night shift group vs 303.74 ± 25.67 ms in the post night shift group (p 0.653); a mean amplitude of 6.1 ± 3.59  μ V in the pre night shift vs 3.98 ± 3.3  μ V in the post night shift (p 0.062). When we compared pre night shift residents with controls, a mean latency of 301.73 ± 22.71 ms was found vs 292.16 ± 36.36 ms in controls (p 0.322); a mean amplitude in the pre night shift of 6.12 ± 3.6  μ V vs 6.51 ± 4.02  μ V in controls (p0.751); when comparing the same parameters among the post night shift residents and controls, latency was 302.65 ± 26.16 ms vs 292.16 ± 36.36 ms (p 0.300); mean amplitude in post night shift residents of 3.99 ± 3.36  μ V vs 6.51 ± 4.02  μ V in controls, with a significant p of 0.037. Conclusion We had clinically comparable groups. With differences in visual analog scale, Epworth scores and sleep minutes before P300, as expected. The latency value maintained without significant fluctuation among the groups. When we compared the amplitude between the pre night shift vs post night shift residents a tendency to statistical significance was found. When comparing post night shift residents vs controls, we found a significant difference in amplitude, in relation to difficulty in maintaining attention after acute sleep deprivation. We concluded that residents have lower amplitude post night shift. This is a pilot study for future research and the results would help us to calculate the sample size.