Assessing fatigue in the field: towards the objective, efficient, and economically viable assessment of acute fatigue in on-shift physicians

Date

2017-09-12

Authors

Howse, Harvey

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Abstract

Medical mistakes made during the fatigue state result in the spread of infection, diagnostic error, psychological distress, poor patient outcomes, and ultimately, loss of life. Alarmingly, the fatigue-management systems put forth by government agency have failed to reduce the risks of fatigue in physicians. A shift from “one size fits all” approaches for fatigue management, to individualized fatigue assessment and training, is required. To date, no validated measures of fatigue are feasible for use as portable, on-site assessments. Here, I propose the use new portable EEG technologies recently validated for the collection of ERP data, as a basis for a portable fatigue assessment that is cost effective, portable, and efficient enough to be used in medical professionals. Over the course of three experiments I have provided data to support the use of the MUSE portable EEG headband, in combination with short oddball task to assess fatigue related neural impacts. Results of these experiments indicate that the P300 component is reduced in fatigued subjects in comparison to non-fatigued, and further that there is a strong correlation between subjective fatigue severity and P300 amplitude.

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Keywords

Decision Making, P300, MUSE, ERP, EEG, Fatigue Management, Medical, Healthcare, Fatigue Assessment,

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