Psychological distress and error making among junior house officers

Objectives . The study examined the impact of beginning a junior house officer post on possible changes in psychological health and propensity to make errors. It was predicted that there would be a significant increase in psychological disturbance and error making following the onset of the post. Design . Questionnaires were administered at two times—prior to and eight weeks after the beginning of a junior house officer post. Methods . Thirty graduates of medicine/junior house officers were recruited from a university medical school in the UK. All participants completed the General Health Questionnaire and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire at Times 1 and 2, as well as a Medical Errors Questionnaire at Time 2. Results . Significant increases were found in reported levels of anxiety, insomnia and somatic symptoms. There were also significant increases in the number of errors that the respondents reported making in everyday life. These everyday errors were significantly related to the reported frequency of errors made in a medical context. Conclusions . Despite recent revisions to the working hours and conditions of junior doctors in Britain, the respondents in this study were experiencing considerable increases in stressful symptoms and consequent increases in the number of errors they made. These findings suggest that further research and policy development is required to explore means of easing the transition to work for junior doctors.