Association of Resident Duty Hour Reform and Neonatal Outcomes of Very Preterm Infants

Abstract

Objective To assess the association of the 2011 Quebec provincial resident duty hour reform, which reduced the maximum consecutive hours worked by all residents from 24 to 16 hours, with neonatal outcomes.

Study Design Retrospective observational study of 4,271 infants born between 23 and 32 weeks, admitted at five Quebec neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) participating in the Canadian Neonatal Network (CNN) between 2008 and 2015 was conducted. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were calculated to compare mortality and the composite outcome of mortality or major morbidity before and after the implementation of the duty hour reform.

Results The mortality rate was 8.4% (218/2,598) before the resident duty hour reform and 8.6% (182/2,123) after the reform (odds ratio [OR] = 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.83–1.26). The composite outcome rate was 32% (830/2,598) before the duty hour reform and 29% (615/2,123) after the reform (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.77–0.98). In the adjusted analyses, the resident call-hour reform was not associated with a significant change in mortality (AOR = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.91–1.50) or composite outcome (AOR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.74–1.03).

Conclusion Reducing residents' duty hours from 24 to 16 hours in Quebec was not associated with a difference in mortality or the composite outcome of very preterm infants.

Keywords

infant - preterm - workforce - resident education/training - morbidity/mortality - resident

Site Investigators for the Canadian Neonatal Network (Collaborators)

Prakesh S. Shah, MD, MSc (Director, Canadian Neonatal Network and site Investigator), Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario; Adele Harrison, MD, MBChB, Victoria General Hospital, Victoria, British Columbia; Anne Synnes, MDCM, MHSC, and Joseph Ting, MD, British Columbia Women's Hospital and Health Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia; Zenon Cieslak, MD, Royal Columbian Hospital, New Westminster, British Columbia; Rebecca Sherlock, MD, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Surrey, British Columbia; Wendy Yee, MD, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta; Khalid Aziz, MBBS, MA, Med, and Jennifer Toye, MD, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta; Carlos Fajardo, MD, Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, Alberta; Zarin Kalapesi, MD, Regina General Hospital, Regina, Saskatchewan; Koravangattu Sankaran, MD, MBBS, and Sibasis Daspal, MD, Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Mary Seshia, MBChB, Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Ruben Alvaro, MD, St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Amit Mukerji, MD, Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, Hamilton, Ontario; Orlando Da Silva, MD, MSc, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario; Chuks Nwaesei, MD, Windsor Regional Hospital, Windsor, Ontario; Kyong-Soon Lee, MD, MSc, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario; Michael Dunn, MD, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario; Brigitte Lemyre, MD, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Ottawa General Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario; Kimberly Dow, MD, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario; Ermelinda Pelausa, MD, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec; Keith Barrington, MBChB, Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Québec; Christine Drolet, MD, and Bruno Piedboeuf, MD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Sainte Foy Québec; Martine Claveau, MSc, LLM, NNP, and Marc Beltempo, MD, McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Québec; Valerie Bertelle, MD, and Edith Masse, MD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec; Roderick Canning, MD, Moncton Hospital, Moncton, New Brunswick; Hala Makary, MD, Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital, Fredericton, New Brunswick; Cecil Ojah, MBBS, and Luis Monterrosa, MD, Saint John Regional Hospital, Saint John, New Brunswick; Akhil Deshpandey, MBBS, MRCPI, Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre, St. John's, Newfoundland; Jehier Afifi, MB BCh, MSc, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Andrzej Kajetanowicz, MD, Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Sydney, Nova Scotia; Shoo K Lee, MBBS, PhD (Chairman, Canadian Neonatal Network), Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario.

Note

The funding agencies had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Funding

None.

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