Korean Med Educ Rev.  2018 Jun;20(2):112-117. 10.17496/kmer.2018.20.2.112.

Prevalence of Operation Room-Related Syncope and Presyncope among Medical Students

• Choi SJ
• Park KH
• Han KH
• Park EY
• Kim SH
• Uh Y

• KMID: 2416766
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.17496/kmer.2018.20.2.112

Abstract

Attending the operation room is an essential part of surgical clerkships. Syncope or presyncopal attacks in the operation room may negatively affect students' learning and career development. This study set out to identify the prevalence of syncope and presyncopal attacks in the operation room during medical students' surgical clerkships. Data from 420 medical students (303 men and 117 women) in their 3rd year of clerkship were collected between 2014 and 2017. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to assess the prevalence and degree of syncope and presyncopal symptoms. A total of 27% of the respondents had experienced syncope or presyncopal symptoms, 49.6% of the female students and 18.8% of the male students (p < 0.001). Fifty students (43.5%) had been attending as observers at the time of the syncopal attack, while 65 students (56.5%) had been participating as assistants. Thirty-four students (29.6%) had recently eaten at the time of the syncopal attack, while 81 students (70.4%) had not recently eaten. Prodromal symptoms included the urge to sit down (21.2%), sweating (19.3%), nausea (16.9%), a feeling of warmth (13.3%), darkened vision (12.6%), yawning (11.7%), palpitation (11.0%), ear fullness (10.2%), black spots in one's vision (7.6%), and hyperventilation (7.1%). This study showed the prevalence of syncope and presyncopal symptoms in the operation room during surgical clerkships. For students' safety and effective clerkship learning, thorough proactive education on syncopal attacks is required.

Keyword

Clinical clerkship; Medical Students; Operating rooms; Prevalence; Syncope

MeSH Terms

Anonyms and Pseudonyms
Clinical Clerkship
Ear
Education
Female
Humans
Hyperventilation
Learning
Male
Nausea
Operating Rooms
Prevalence*
Prodromal Symptoms
Students, Medical*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Sweat
Sweating
Syncope*
Yawning