Eye doctors under the microscope: do 60-Hour shifts harm performance?

NCT ID NCT04959838

Knowledge-focused Sponsor: University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study tracks 30 eye doctors and residents in France to see how working up to 60 hours straight affects their stress levels, heart rate, and surgical skills. Researchers will measure heart rate variability, saliva stress markers, and sleep quality. The goal is to understand if long night shifts increase the risk of medical errors and long-term health problems.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

What this could lead to: If successful, this could highlight the need for better work schedules to reduce stress and medical errors among eye doctors.
What could go wrong: This is a small observational study with only 30 participants, so results may not apply to all doctors or settings. It measures stress markers, not direct health outcomes.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 30 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Jul 2021

Expected to finish

Jul 2027

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 to 65 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Ophthalmologists defined as physicians who completed the ophthalmology DES (Specialized studies diploma), as well as ophthalmology residents defined as a resident registered in the ophthalmology DES working during the inclusion period in the ophthalmology department of the university hospital center of Clermont-Ferrand. * Ability to give a written informed consent to participate in research. * Affiliation to a social security system. * Age between 18 and 65 years old Exclusion Criteria: * Participant refusal to participate * Children under the age of 18, pregnant and breastfeeding women, protected adults (individuals under guardianship by court order), adults deprived of their liberty.

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As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Heart rate variability Stress

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

The places running it

1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
The official record

ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

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A doctor treating you

A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Eye doctors under the microscope: do 60-Hour shifts harm performance?

What the study statuses mean