Emergency medicine residents' use of psychostimulants and sedatives to aid in shift work

Objectives: We evaluated the frequency that emergency medicine house staff report use of stimulants and sedatives to aid in shift work and circadian transitions. Methods: We surveyed residents from 12 regional emergency medicine programs inviting them to complete a voluntary, anonymous electronic questionnaire regarding their use of stimulants and sedatives. Results: Out of 485 eligible residents invited to participate in the survey, 226 responded (47% response frequency). The reported use of prescription stimulants for shift work is uncommon (3.1% of respondents.) In contrast, 201 residents (89%) report use of caffeine during night shifts, including 118 residents (52%) who use this substance every night shift. Eighty-six residents (38%) reported using sedative agents to sleep following shift work with the most common agents being anti-histamines (31%), nonbenzodiazepine hypnotics such as zolpidem (14%), melatonin (10%), and benzodiazepines (9%). Conclusion: Emergency medicine residents report substantial use of several classes of hypnotics to aid in shift work. Despite anecdotal reports, use of prescription stimulants appears rare, and is notably less common than use of sedatives and non-prescription stimulants.