Key result
Presenting at grand rounds spikes heart rate to ~154 bpm, inducing exercise-equivalent sinus tachycardia.
Why the study?
The heart rate response to nonphysical stress during case presentation at grand rounds in house officers was not characterized.
Does presenting cases at grand rounds increase heart rate in house officers?
Does presenting cases at grand rounds increase heart rate in house officers?
Presenting cases at grand rounds induces significant sinus tachycardia in house officers, equivalent in magnitude to moderately vigorous exercise.
May induce exercise-level tachycardia in presenters; hypothesis-generating for stress effects in medical education.
The average heart rate of 10 house officers who presented cases at grand rounds increased from a base-line value of 73 beats/min to 154 beats/min in the minute before or during case presentation. The magnitude of the sinus tachycardia in response to this form of nonphysical stress was equivalent to moderately vigorous exercise.
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Arthur J. Moss (1970) studied this question. Presenting cases at grand rounds increased the average heart rate of 10 house officers from 73 to 154 beats/min, inducing sinus tachycardia equivalent to moderately vigorous exercise.
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