Influence of shift duration on cognitive performance of emergency physicians: a prospective cross-sectional study.

Persico N, Maltese F, Ferrigno C, et al. Ann Emerg Med. 2018;72:171-180.

This study team performed cognitive testing on emergency medicine physicians following nights spent at home versus after 14-hour and 24-hour shifts. They did not find any decrement in performance after a 14-hour shift compared to a night of rest. However, physicians' processing speed, working memory, and perceptual reasoning were worse after a 24-hour shift, suggesting that 24-hour shifts for emergency medicine physicians should be limited.

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