Do physical leisure time activities prevent fatigue? A 15 month prospective study of nurses' aides.
OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that physical leisure time activities reduce the risk of developing persistent fatigue.


METHODS
The hypothesis was tested in a sample that was homogeneous with respect to sex and occupation, with a prospective cohort design. Of 6234 vocationally active, female, Norwegian nurses' aides, not on leave because of illness or pregnancy when they completed a mailed questionnaire in 1999, 5341 (85.7%) completed a second questionnaire 15 months later. The main outcome measure was the prevalence of persistent fatigue-that is, always or usually feeling fatigued in the daytime during the preceding 14 days.


RESULTS
In participants without persistent fatigue at baseline, reported engagement in physical leisure time activities for 20 minutes or more at least once a week during the three months before baseline was associated with a reduced risk of persistent fatigue at the follow up (odds ratio = 0.70; 95% confidence interval 0.55 to 0.89), after adjustments for age, affective symptoms, sleeping problems, musculoskeletal pain, long term health problems of any kind, smoking, marital status, tasks of a caring nature during leisure time, and work factors at baseline.


CONCLUSIONS
The study supports the hypothesis that physical leisure time activities reduce the risk of developing persistent fatigue.
Eriksen
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W
General Practice and Community Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. w.b.eriksen@samfunnsmed.uio.no
Bruusgaard
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D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise; D005221:Fatigue / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008875:Middle Aged; D009728:Nursing Assistants; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires