What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to assess levels of burnout and sleep deprivation in neurology residents and their effects on clinical performance.

April 24, 2026Neurosciences0 citationsOpen Access

Impact of Burnout and Sleep Deprivation on the Clinical Performance of Neurology Residents: A Cross-Sectional Country Wide Study

BABandar N. Aljafen WAWalaa S. AlkhamisDar Al Uloom University RARahmah M. AlsawadDar Al Uloom University

Key Points

This research aims to assess levels of burnout and sleep deprivation in neurology residents and their effects on clinical performance.
Conducted a multi-centric, cross-sectional study involving 214 registered neurology residents in Saudi Arabia.
Utilized the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Physicians’ Self-Assessment Questionnaire to evaluate participants.
Analyzed the correlation between burnout, sleep deprivation, and clinical performance outcomes.
Over 80% of residents experienced moderate-to-high emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, while 90% reported low personal accomplishment.
83.2% of participants suffered from sleep deprivation, asserting it negatively affected their cognitive abilities at work.
Half of the residents were low performers in clinical duties, with significant correlations found between burnout, sleep quality scores, and clinical performance.

Abstract

Objective: To assess burnout (BU) and sleep deprivation (SD) among neurology residents and their impact on clinical performance (CP). This study is based on a neurology residents from Saudi Arabia. Methods: This multi-centric, cross-sectional study invited 214 registered neurology residents in the country; 179 participated in the study. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Medical Council of Canada’s Physicians’ Self-Assessment Questionnaire (PSAQ) were used to evaluate burnout (BU) and sleep deprivation (SD) among neurology residents and their impact on clinical performance (CP). Results: Of the total 214 registered neurology residents, 179 participated in the study. About 50% reported irregularity in daily meals, while >50% failed to exercise due to time constraints. More than 80% of residents had moderate-to-high levels of emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalisation (DP), and 90% had low personal accomplishment (PA). The global PSQI score of 9.3 resulted from mediocre sleep quality, poor sleep duration, high sleep latency and daytime dysfunction. Moreover, 83.2% of residents complained of SD and opined that it affects their mental capability at work. Regarding residents’ CP, 49.44% were high performers, while the proportion of low performers was marginally higher at 50.56%. The rampant prevalence of moderate-to-high EE and DP and poor PSQI scores had a significantly negative correlation with residents’ CP (p= 0.0168, 0.0011 and 0.0441, respectively), CP correlated positively with PA levels (p=0.0045). Conclusion: Moderate to high levels of BU prevail among neurology residents in Saudi Arabia. A high number of neurology residents suffer from sleep disturbances. Both BU and SD exert a detrimental impact on neurology residents’ CP, which adversely affects the quality of neurological care delivered by the burned-out and sleep-deprived residents.

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