Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2008 Feb;195(2):195-204.
doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2007.10.004.

Effect of fatigue on psychomotor and cognitive skills

Kanav Kahol  1 , Mario J Leyba, Mary Deka, Vikram Deka, Stephanie Mayes, Marshall Smith, John J Ferrara, Sethuraman Panchanathan
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Effect of fatigue on psychomotor and cognitive skills

Kanav Kahol et al. Am J Surg. 2008 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have explored the effect of fatigue on general psychomotor proficiency. However, studies specifically addressing the effect of fatigue on surgical residents' cognitive skills during simulated surgical exercises are lacking.

Methods: Thirty-seven surgical residents in both the precall and the postcall condition were tested for psychomotor and cognitive skill evaluation on a virtual-reality simulator with haptic feedback and hand-motion recording. To evaluate surgical skills, hand- and tool-movement smoothness, cognitive errors, and time to completion for specific tasks were analyzed.

Results: In addition increased cognitive errors, a significant decrease (P < .01) was recorded in the proficiency variables of memory, attention, and intermodal coordination tasks when residents were in the postcall condition.

Conclusions: Fatigue and sleep deprivation cause a significant deterioration in the surgical residents' cognitive skills as measured by virtual reality simulation. Psychomotor skills are also negatively impacted during tasks that require a combination of psychomotor and cognitive skills.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

MeSH terms