Sleep disturbances predict prospective declines in resident physicians’ psychological well-being

Abstract

Background: Medical residency can be a time of increased psychological stress and sleep disturbance. We examine the prospective associations between self-reported sleep quality and resident wellness across a single training year. Methods: Sixty-nine (N69) resident physicians completed the Brief Resident Wellness Profile (M17.66, standard deviation [SD] 3.45, range: 017) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (M6.22, SD 2.86, range: 1225) at multiple occasions in a single training year. We examined the 1-month lagged effect of sleep disturbances on residents’ self-reported wellness. Results: Accounting for residents’ overall level of sleep disturbance across the entire study period, both the concurrent (within-person) within-occasion effect of sleep disturbance (B 0.20, standard error [SE]0.06, p0.003, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.33, 0.07) and the lagged within-person effect of resident sleep disturbance (B 0.15, SE0.07, p0.037, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.009) were significant predictors of decreased resident wellness. Increases in sleep disturbances are a leading indicatorof resident wellness, predicting decreased well-being 1 month later. Conclusions: Sleep quality exerts a significant effect on self-reported resident wellness. Periodic evaluation of sleep quality may alert program leadership and the residents themselves to impending decreases in psychological well-being.