January 1, 2016Open Access

Influence of Mental Workload on the Performance of Anesthesiologists during Induction of General Anesthesia: A Patient Simulator Study

Q: What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Observational. Population: Mental workload during induction of general anesthesia (n=22). Intervention: Board certified anesthesiologist status vs. Anesthesiology residents. Primary outcome: Correct answer rate in secondary tasks during a high mental workload scenario (scenario C) (95% CI -0.518 to -0.215, p=< 0.01).

Key Result

Under high mental workload in a simulated clinical scenario, board-certified anesthesiologists had a significantly higher correct answer rate on secondary tasks than residents (0.736 vs 0.370; P<0.01).

Study Design

Type

Observational (n=22)

Structured PICO

Does increased mental workload impair the simulated clinical performance of anesthesiology residents compared to board-certified anesthesiologists?

Population

22 participants, comprising 13 anesthesiology residents and 9 board-certified anesthesiologists, evaluated in simulated general anesthesia scenarios.

Exposure

Simulated scenarios with increased mental workload (scenario B: simple addition tasks; scenario C: combination of simple addition tasks and treatment of unexpected arrhythmia).

Comparator

Baseline simulated scenario (scenario A) without additional mental workload tasks, and comparison between resident (RA) and board-certified (CA) anesthesiologists.

Outcome

Correct answer rate on a secondary task (simple two-digit integer additions every 5 seconds) and the score of four kinds of key actions evaluated in each scenario.surrogate

High mental workload during simulated anesthesia induction significantly impairs task performance and key clinical actions, with a more pronounced negative effect on less experienced anesthesiology residents.

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 0.736% vs 0.37%

p-value: p=< 0.01

Abstract

The aim of this study was to reveal the effect of anesthesiologist's mental workload during induction of general anesthesia. Twenty-two participants were categorized into anesthesiology residents (RA group, n = 13) and board certified anesthesiologists (CA group, n = 9). Subjects participated in three simulated scenarios (scenario A: baseline, scenario B: simple addition tasks, and scenario C: combination of simple addition tasks and treatment of unexpected arrhythmia). We used simple two-digit integer additions every 5 seconds as a secondary task. Four kinds of key actions were also evaluated in each scenario. In scenario C, the correct answer rate was significantly higher in the CA versus the RA group (RA: 0.370 ± 0.050 versus CA: 0.736 ± 0.051, p < 0.01, 95% CI -0.518 to -0.215) as was the score of key actions (RA: 2.7 ± 1.3 versus CA: 4.0 ± 0.00, p = 0.005). In a serious clinical situation, anesthesiologists might not be able to adequately perform both the primary and secondary tasks. This tendency is more apparent in young anesthesiologists.

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Cite This Study

Sato et al. (Fri,) conducted a observational in Mental workload during induction of general anesthesia (n=22). Board certified anesthesiologist status vs. Anesthesiology residents was evaluated on Correct answer rate in secondary tasks during a high mental workload scenario (scenario C) (95% CI -0.518 to -0.215, p=< 0.01). Under high mental workload in a simulated clinical scenario, board-certified anesthesiologists had a significantly higher correct answer rate on secondary tasks than residents (0.736 vs 0.370; P<0.01).

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a1fda9f104b5721fe7e5b02 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/1058750

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