Objective:

To evaluate the association between surgeon sleep timing and the occurrence of major adverse events in surgical patients, highlighting its potential significance.

Key Findings:

• Major adverse events occurred in 20% of operations, indicating a significant concern for patient safety.
• Severe social jet lag (≥2 hours) was associated with a 36% higher adjusted risk of major adverse events compared to <1 hour.
• Surgeons with burnout exhibited higher social jet lag and midsleep time variability, suggesting a link between burnout and sleep irregularity.

Interpretation:

The study suggests a potential link between irregular sleep timing and increased risk of adverse surgical outcomes, though causality cannot be established; the correlation is noteworthy.

Limitations:

• Only 38 of 70 eligible surgeons participated, potentially limiting generalizability and impacting the robustness of the findings.
• Study conducted in a single geographic region, which may not reflect broader trends.
• Residual confounding from unmeasured factors may affect results, including lifestyle factors like caffeine consumption.

Conclusion:

The findings contribute to the understanding of sleep regularity as a crucial component of sleep health and its potential impact on surgical outcomes, emphasizing the need for further research.