TY - JOUR
T1 - Impairment of anesthesia task performance by laser protection goggles
AU - Boucek, C.
AU - Freeman, J. A.
AU - Bircher, N. G.
AU - Tullock, W.
PY - 1993
Y1 - 1993
N2 - This study was designed to determine whether the wearing of colored goggles, commonly used during laser surgery, increased the time needed to perform simple tasks or the likelihood of medication errors. The Stromberg Dexterity Test and the Medication Sorting Task (MST), a test of our own design, were used to measure the speed and accuracy of identifying medications. Thirty anesthesia care providers performed the tests twice, once with colored goggles and once without. Ambient light during the test was controlled to approximate that in the operating room during laser surgery. Times required to complete the tests improved with repetition of the test. When colored goggles were worn, more time was needed to complete the tests. More errors, especially serious errors in medication sorting, occurred when goggles were worn than when they were not. The wearing of colored goggles in combination with low levels of illumination and stress due to time constraints, may increase the potential for medication errors.
AB - This study was designed to determine whether the wearing of colored goggles, commonly used during laser surgery, increased the time needed to perform simple tasks or the likelihood of medication errors. The Stromberg Dexterity Test and the Medication Sorting Task (MST), a test of our own design, were used to measure the speed and accuracy of identifying medications. Thirty anesthesia care providers performed the tests twice, once with colored goggles and once without. Ambient light during the test was controlled to approximate that in the operating room during laser surgery. Times required to complete the tests improved with repetition of the test. When colored goggles were worn, more time was needed to complete the tests. More errors, especially serious errors in medication sorting, occurred when goggles were worn than when they were not. The wearing of colored goggles in combination with low levels of illumination and stress due to time constraints, may increase the potential for medication errors.
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U2 - 10.1213/00000539-199312000-00026
DO - 10.1213/00000539-199312000-00026
M3 - Article
C2 - 8250318
AN - SCOPUS:0027482415
SN - 0003-2999
VL - 77
SP - 1232
EP - 1237
JO - Anesthesia and analgesia
JF - Anesthesia and analgesia
IS - 6
ER -