A Consult Is Just a Page Away: A Prospective Observational Study on the Impact of Jinxing on Call Karma in Neurosurgery.
OBJECTIVE
Our aim was to assess the impact of jinxing on "call karma" in neurosurgery.


METHODS
We conducted a prospective observational study on 15 residents on call for the neurosurgery service, recording the total number of admissions, consults, deaths encountered, surgeries performed, hours of sleep and subjective call rating on a numeric rating scale (NRS) of 0-10 in terms of general awfulness.


RESULTS
Some 204 on-call nightshifts were analyzed, of which 61 (29.9%) were jinxed and 143 (70.1%) were nonjinxed. Jinxes seemed to occur in clusters. The baseline parameters (experience, type of call coverage and superstition level) of the study groups were well balanced. A trend toward more surgeries was observed during jinxed nights, where residents slept significantly less (mean 147.8±96.2 vs. 180.9±106.1 min, p=0.037) and rated their on-call experience worse on the NRS (4.4±2.2 vs. 3.5±2.0, p=0.011), while there was no significant difference in number of admissions, consults or deaths.


CONCLUSIONS
The act of jinxing ought to be avoided in the neurosurgical setting, as it might be potentially harmful to resident call karma, irrespective of level of experience, resources and personal beliefs.
['Joswig|Holger|H|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3540-3910', 'Zarnett|Lauren|L|', 'Steven|David A|DA|', 'Stienen|Martin N|MN|']
D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007396:Internship and Residency D008297:Male D009493:Neurosurgery D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling D011446:Prospective Studies D012892:Sleep Deprivation D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance
jinx Call karma neurosurgery superstition