Investigation and analysis on the fatigue experienced by the naval special service convalescents and the preliminary design of psychological education program

Abstract

Objective To make a comprehensive analysis on the status of fatigue experienced by the naval special service convalescents and then to develop appropriate psychological education program in accordance with the results of the study.Methods A total of 1624 naval special service convalescents were evaluated with the Fatigue Assessment Instrument (FAI) and the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SAD),and then data were analyzed with SPSS 18.0.Results The FAI scores greater than 4 accounted for 70.7％ of the convalescents,of whom the scores greater than 5 accounted for 31.5％ of the total number.Scores of fatigue severity (S) factor,situation-specificity (SS) factor and psychological consequence (PC) factor for the research objects were all significantly lower than those of the chronic fatigue syndrome patients,and statistical significance could be seen between them (P ＜ 0.01).And fatigue response to rest/sleep (RTR/S) factor was significantly higher than that of the chronic fatigue syndrome patients,also with statistical significance (P ＜ 0.01).When compared with healthy people,S factor of the research subjects (P ＜ 0.01) was obviously higher,while PC and RTR/S factor were significantly lower,with statistical difference (P ＜ 0.01).The number of convalescents with severe social avoidance and distress (scores ＞ 13) accounted for 30.82％ of the total.Social distress and social avoidance factors were positively correlated with S,SS and PC factors (P ＜ 0.01),while they were negatively correlated with RTR/S factor (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions The medical personnel of the sanatorium should conduct psychological education directed at improving their ill physical and psychological status,improving interpersonal communication and developing their potency,so as to effectively alleviate fatigue and improve convalescent effects. Key words: Special service convalescents; Fatigue; Psychological education program