A National Cross-Sectional Study of Surgery Residents Who Underreport Duty Hours

Publication date: Available online 18 May 2017
Source:Journal of Surgical Education
Author(s): Christopher L. Bennett, David A. McDonald, Yuchiao Chang, Alex Finch, Kimmy Vuong, Stuart Rennie, Eric S. Nadel
ObjectivePrevious work demonstrates that many surgery residents underreport duty hours. The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of these residents and better understand why they exceed duty hours.DesignDuring the winter of 2015 we conducted an anonymous cross-sectional survey of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited general surgery programs.SettingA total of 101 general surgery residency programs across the United States.ParticipantsA total of 1003 general surgery residents across the United States. Respondents' mean age was 29.9 ± 3.0 years; 53% were male.ResultsStudy response rate was 31.9%. Residents age <30 were more likely to exceed duty hours to complete charting/documentation (68% vs. 54%, p < 0.001). Females more often cited guilt about leaving the hospital (32% vs. 24%, p = 0.014) as to why they exceed duty hours. Programs with >40 residents had the highest rates of underreporting (82% vs. 67% in other groups p < 0.001) and residents who worked >90 hours on an average week more frequently cited external pressure (p = 0.0001), guilt (p = 0.006), and feeling it was expected of them (p < 0.0001) as reasons why they underreport compared to those who worked fewer hours.ConclusionsUnderreporting and duty-hour violations are a complex issue influenced by many variables including age, sex, and internal and external pressures.



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