Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, and Perinatology, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
Department of Surgery, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
World J Surg. 2021 Sep;45(9):2653-2660. doi: 10.1007/s00268-021-06182-5. Epub 2021 May 27.
Unregulated work schedules have deleterious effects on trainees' productivity and patients' safety. For these reasons, duty hours have been capped in many developed countries. Such regulations, however, appear to be lacking in many parts of Africa, and the effects of unregulated work hours in this part of the world have only been scantily documented. This study evaluated the work schedule of Nigerian surgical trainees, and its impact on their wellbeing, as well as assessed the perception of trainees towards capped duty hours.
A cross-sectional survey of 650 Nigerian Resident Doctors in surgical specialties was conducted in November 2020. Enquiries were made about their work schedules using a purpose-designed questionnaire, developed using Google Forms. The data were analysed using the IBM SPSS version 23.
The mean weekly work hours of surgical residents was 122.72 ± 34.17 h. Majority (228, 40.4%) of the residents had cumulative call hours of ≥ 72 h per week. One-half (283, 50.1%) of them worked continuously for up to 48-72 h during calls, with mean daily sleep hours of 3.53 ± 1.42 h during calls. The majority (558, 98.8%) of respondents had post-call clinical responsibilities. Seventy-five percent of the respondents reported hazards from prolonged work hours, and an overwhelming majority (530, 93.8%) desire official limits on work hours.
Prolonged, unregulated work schedules appear to be the norm among Nigerian surgical trainees. This trend calls for urgent measures, to avoid potentially catastrophic consequences on both physicians and patients.
无规律的工作时间表对学员的生产力和患者的安全都有不良影响。出于这些原因，许多发达国家都对工作时间进行了限制。然而，在非洲的许多地方，这种规定似乎都缺乏，而且关于这个地区无规律工作时间的影响，也只有少量的记录。本研究评估了尼日利亚外科实习医生的工作时间表，及其对他们健康的影响，并评估了实习医生对工作时间限制的看法。
2020 年 11 月对尼日利亚外科专业的 650 名住院医师进行了横断面调查。使用专门设计的问卷，通过谷歌表单进行了有关工作时间表的询问。使用 IBM SPSS 版本 23 对数据进行分析。
外科住院医师的平均每周工作时间为 122.72±34.17 小时。大多数（228，40.4%）住院医师每周的累计值班时间超过 72 小时。其中一半（283，50.1%）在值班期间连续工作长达 48-72 小时，值班期间平均每天睡眠时间为 3.53±1.42 小时。大多数（558，98.8%）受访者在轮班后有临床责任。75%的受访者报告工作时间过长存在危害，绝大多数（530，93.8%）希望对工作时间进行正式限制。
尼日利亚外科实习医生的工作时间似乎普遍延长且无规律。这种趋势需要采取紧急措施，以避免对医生和患者都可能产生灾难性的后果。
