Assessment of Attention in Emergency Physicians; Visuomotor Reaction Time Relationship

Objective: Emergency physicians require exceptionally high perceptual and cognitive performance during their shifts. Visuomotor reaction time (VMRT) serves as a key indicator of this performance. In the study, we examined the relationship between shift duration and VMRT in physicians working in the emergency department.

Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted among emergency physicians working 24-h shifts. Their VMRTs were measured using the FitLight Trainer at 0, 8, 12, 16, and 24 h into the shift.

Results: The study included 29 physicians. 11 (37.9%) of the physicians included in the study were female, and the median age was 28.00 (25.50–31.00). A significant difference was found when the VMRTs of the measurements made at the 0^th hour, 8^th hour, 12^th hour, 16^th hour, and 24^th hour of the shift were compared (p = 0.035). When the post hoc analyses for the groups that created this difference were examined, the VMRT at 0 hour was 0.362 s [0.332–0.402], VMRT at 8 h was 0.358 s [0.328–382], VMRT at 12 hour was 0.353 s [0.319–0.391], VMRT at 16 hour was 0.349 s [0.319–0.383], and VMRT at 24 hour was 0.362 s [0.334–0.393]. While there was a significant difference between VMRT at 0, 8, 12, and 16 h (p = 0.005, p = 0.003, and p = 0.009, respectively), there was no significant difference between VMRT at 24 hour (p = 0.252, p = 0.776, and p = 0.764, respectively). There was no significant difference between shifts at 8, 12, and 16 h (p = 0.776 and p = 0.764, respectively).

Conclusion: The VMRT decreased 16 h of physicians’ shift, after which physicians showed improved attention. Notably, there were no differences between the VMRT at 0 and 24 h.