Apples in Night Shift
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: apple group, no apple group.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Night Work. Basic parameters: 20 years — 40 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Should Doctors Bring an Apple to Have a More Relaxed Night Shift?: a Single Center, Open Label, Randomized Trial
Overview
Background: Emergency doctors face a highly stressful work environment during night shifts. Long-term night shift work can lead to sleep deprivation, fatigue accumulation, and disruption of the biological clock, which may affect doctors' work efficiency and physical and mental health. There are various health interventions for night shift doctors, one of which is an interesting practice of carrying an apple as a symbol of the "night shift deity" to relieve anxiety and improve work efficiency. Although this behavior is not supported by sufficient scientific evidence, it has become a common habit among some doctors during night shifts due to its simplicity, low risk, and ritualistic nature. Objective: To assess whether carrying an apple during night shifts can significantly reduce fatigue, decrease work intensity, and enhance work experience for emergency doctors. Design: Single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Participants: several doctors with a total of 60 emergency working night shifts. Primary Outcome: Average number of patients per night shift. Sample Size: The study plans to recruit several doctors with a total of 60 emergency night shifts and randomly assign them to the experimental group and the control group. One doctor can be randomized for many times.
Detailed description
Background: Emergency doctors face a highly stressful work environment during night shifts. Long-term night shift work can lead to sleep deprivation, fatigue accumulation, and disruption of the biological clock, which may affect doctors' work efficiency and physical and mental health. There are various health interventions for night shift doctors, one of which is an interesting practice of carrying an apple as a symbol of the "night shift deity" to relieve anxiety and improve work efficiency. Although this behavior is not supported by sufficient scientific evidence, it has become a common habit among some doctors during night shifts due to its simplicity, low risk, and ritualistic nature.
Objective: To assess whether carrying an apple during night shifts can significantly reduce fatigue, decrease work intensity, and enhance work experience for emergency doctors.
Design: Single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial.
Participants: several doctors with a total of 60 emergency working night shifts.
Primary Outcome: Average number of patients per night shift.
Sample Size: The study plans to recruit several doctors with a total of 60 emergency night shifts and randomly assign them to the experimental group and the control group. One doctor can be randomized for many times.
Interventions
- Procedure apple group
Doctors will bring apples during night shift - Procedure no apple group
No apples during night shift
Primary outcome measures
- number of patients [Time frame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day]
Secondary outcome measures (7)
- Evaluation of night shifts [Time frame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day]
- Emergency admissions [Time frame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day]
- Emergency surgery number [Time frame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day]
- Emergency uterine evacuation number [Time frame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day]
- Complicated patients number [Time frame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day]
- Doctor's break time [Time frame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day]
- Number of patients admitted to emergency room [Time frame: from 5pm on the Randomization day to 8am on the next day]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
Doctors who have a night shift in the emergency department of gynaecology with at least two weeks experience.
Exclusion criteria
Doctors who refuse to join the study
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
Study locations
Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.
Identifiers
NCT: NCT06714422 · APPLE study