TIRED doctors tend to prescribe less painkillers, according to a fascinating new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
The authors cited a phenomenon of "depleted empathy reserves," after comparing the prescribing behaviour of medicos on long night shifts with those who had more sociable work schedules.
The study included an empathy assessment of 67 hospital resident doctors - 31 at the beginning of a morning shift, and 36 at the end of working for more than 24 hours, with those at the end of a night shift rating patients' pain as significantly less intense than those who had just started work for the day.
The less empathetic doctors were less likely to prescribe analgesics under various clinical scenarios presented.
The study also looked at thousands of hospital emergency department discharge records, and found that the likelihood of painkillers being prescribed on discharge was up to 30% lower during night shifts than during the day - regardless of reported pain levels and patient complaints.
The "night shift" effect was only seen for analgesic scripts but not for prescriptions relating to other conditions, with the authors saying "this also supports the argument that the effect is driven by changes in empathy, rather than by general fatigue or laziness during the night" - see the study HERE.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 30 Jun 22
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 30 Jun 22
