Fatigue In Employees Research Articles

The Impact of Sustained Wakefulness and Time-of-day on OSPAT Performance

Fatigue associated with shiftwork is a key contributor to human error in the workplace. One way to prevent fatigue-related errors from occurring is to identify fatigue in employees using fitness-for-duty measures. The Occupational Safety Performance Assessment Test (OSPAT), an unpredictable tracking task that measures hand-eye coordination, is currently being used as a fitness-for-duty measure in a variety of industries, but has not yet been validated as a test sensitive to the effects of fatigue. Consequently, the aim of this study was to systematically examine the impact of sustained wakefulness and time-of-day on OSPAT performance. Twenty individuals (10 male, 10 female), aged between 18-25 yr (M=20.90, SD=2.29) participated in the study, which was conducted in Australia. The study had a repeated measures design, whereby participants completed the OSPAT and measures of sustained attention (i.e., the psychomotor vigilance task: PVT), and subjective alertness (i.e., the Visual Analog Scale: VAS) every 2 h during 24 h of sustained wakefulness, beginning at 07:00 h. Results revealed that VAS ratings of alertness, PVT performance, and OSPAT performance declined significantly as hours of wakefulness increased during the night-time (all p<.01). Furthermore, a positive correlation between OSPAT and PVT performance was observed (r=0.40, p<.01). Overall, these findings suggest that OSPAT is sensitive to sustained wakefulness during the night-time, and builds the case for OSPAT being a suitable measure for determining fitness-for-duty in workplace environments.

Predicting the Two-Year Course of Unexplained Fatigue and the Onset of Long-Term Sickness Absence in Fatigued Employees: Results From the Maastricht Cohort Study

Because of the serious adverse consequences of unexplained fatigue, it is important to identify factors that determine the prognosis of unexplained fatigue and the onset of long-term sickness absence in fatigued employees. Analyses were based on the Maastricht Cohort Study, a prospective population-based cohort study among more than 12,000 employees. Severely fatigued employees who were not on sick leave (n = 2108) were selected at baseline and followed up at six time points during the course of 2 years. Point prevalences of severe fatigue (59% to 63%) and long-term sickness absence (1.8% to 3.1%) among participants were fairly stable at all consecutive time points. Lower levels of fatigue severity, work-related exhaustion and anxious mood, absence of conflicts with colleagues, and good self-rated health at baseline were predictors of the onset of recovery from fatigue in survival analyses. Older age, low decision authority, female sex, working in nightshift, a physical attribution of fatigue, and a history of absenteeism were predictors of the onset of long-term absenteeism. The course of unexplained fatigue in employees is characterized by remission and relapse in time while the absolute risk of long-term absenteeism is small. Given the broad range of predictors, it appears that fatigue and long-term sickness absence entangle different underlying processes. Our findings underscore the notion that prevention and treatment of fatigue should be aimed at health perception and emotional well-being.

Fatigue in employees with diabetes: its relation with work characteristics and diabetes related burden

Aims: To examine the relations between work characteristics as defined by the Job Demand-Control-Support model (JDCS) (that is, job demands, decision latitude, and social support), diabetes related burden (symptoms, seriousness...

The association between chronic diseases and fatigue in the working population

Objective: The aims of this study were to examine (a) whether employees with a chronic disease report more fatigue than employees without a chronic disease, (b) whether number or type of chronic disease is related to fatigue, and (c) whether differences in fatigue level in various types of chronic diseases are related to psychological distress. Methods: Data were taken from 12,137 employees. Fatigue was measured with the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS). Results: Employees with a chronic disease reported more fatigue (OR=2.9, 95% CI=2.7–3.2). Small differences were observed in the level of fatigue in various types of diseases. A strong linear association between the number of chronic diseases and fatigue was found. Psychological distress explained the higher level of fatigue in some chronic diseases (gastrointestinal diseases and migraine). Conclusions: Fatigue is more common in employees with a chronic disease. A strong association between number of chronic diseases and fatigue exists. Fatigue in employees with a chronic disease can partly be explained by psychological distress. Some chronic diseases show a stronger association between psychological distress and fatigue.

The relationship between psychosocial work characteristics and fatigue and psychological distress.

To examine the associations between psychosocial work characteristics and fatigue in employees in the Maastricht Cohort Study. A second objective was to compare the relationships for fatigue versus psychological distress with these psychosocial work characteristics. The design was cross-sectional and included 11,020 employees who responded to the self-administered baseline questionnaire of the Maastricht Cohort Study. Fatigue was measured with the Checklist Individual Strength, a 20-item self-report instrument. Psychological distress was measured with the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychosocial work characteristics comprised: psychological demands, decision latitude, and social support at work as measured by the Job Content Questionnaire, as well as emotional demands at work, physical demands at work, job insecurity, and conflict with supervisor/co-worker, which were assessed with items from existing Dutch questionnaires. Low decision latitude and low social support at work were associated with fatigue in both men and women. Associations were also found between emotional demands at work, job insecurity, physical demands and conflict with supervisor and fatigue in men; and high psychological demands and fatigue in women. As regards psychological distress, there was no association with low decision latitude, but strong associations with emotional demands and conflict with supervisor in both genders. The study provides strong support for associations between psychosocial work characteristics and fatigue in men and women, even after adjustment for psychological distress. Moreover, it suggests some differential effects of psychosocial work characteristics on fatigue and psychological distress.