Fatigue in the Workplace Common & Costly

Almost 40 percent of workers in the United States experience fatigue, a problem that carries billions of dollars in costs from lost productivity, according to a study in the January Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, reported by Newswise. Previous studies have found that fatigue is a common symptom that is linked to missed work time. This new study is the first to focus specifically on the rate of fatigue in U.S. workers, and its relationship to worker productivity.

Researchers led by Judith A. Ricci, Sc.D., M.S., of Caremark, Hunt Valley, Maryland, analyzed data from a nationwide study. Of the nearly 29,000 employed adults interviewed, 38 percent said they had experienced "low levels of energy, poor sleep, or a feeling of fatigue" during the past two weeks. With adjustment for other factors, fatigue was more common in women than men, in workers less than 50 years old, and in white workers compared with African-Americans. Workers with "high-control" jobs relatively well-paid jobs with decision making responsibility also reported higher rates of fatigue.

Health conditions for which fatigue is a major symptom such as depression or anxiety accounted for only a small part of the productivity losses. Far more of the costs were thought to result from a wide range of other physical and mental health problems that may occur when fatigue is also present. The researchers suggest that companies offer work-life programs to help employees balance their work and personal responsibilities, and take steps to improve assessment and treatment for the large subgroup of workers who have fatigue co-occurring with other health conditions.

Reprinted with permission. © CCH 

Almost 40 percent of workers in the United States experience fatigue, a problem that carries billions of dollars in costs from lost productivity, according to a study in the January Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine...