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We read with interest the article by Jagsi et al,¹ who reported that a considerable amount (24%) of adverse events were attributed to mistakes, and the most common reason for mistakes was excessive work hours. Working 80 to 100 hours weekly is dangerous for interns and patients, and in these last years, US residents were restricted to work less than an average of 80 hours per week and no more than 30 hours of continuous duty. According to the extension of the European Working Time Directive to cover physicians in training, 58 hours per week are allowed for resident physicians, falling to 48 by 2009. Shift work is associated with increased mortality,² and the relative risk of incidents increases over successive night shifts, being 6%, 17%, and 36% higher on the second, third, and fourth night, respectively.³ In addition to excessive charge of work hours, getting adequate sleep is the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Roberto Manfredini, MD; Benedetta Boari, MD; Fabio Manfredini, MD

RELATED ARTICLE

Residents Report on Adverse Events and Their Causes
Reshma Jagsi, Barrett T. Kitch, Debra F. Weinstein, Eric G. Campbell, Matthew Hutter, and Joel S. Weissman
Arch Intern Med. 2005;165(22):2607-2613.
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