Similarities, overlap and differences between burnout and prolonged fatigue in the working population.
BACKGROUND
Burnout and prolonged fatigue are related but distinct concepts that have seldom been empirically compared.


OBJECTIVE
To examine similarities, overlap and differences between burnout and prolonged fatigue.


METHODS
Observational study.


METHODS
We analysed baseline data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on Fatigue at Work (n = 12 140). The discriminative abilities of the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) were evaluated using principal component analysis. Overlap, similarities and differences regarding health, work and demographic factors between subgroups were assessed.


RESULTS
The discriminative abilities of the CIS and MBI-GS appeared to be moderate. Prolonged fatigue and burnout cases overlapped considerably. The subgroup consisting of cases with concurrent fatigue and burnout tended to have poorer outcomes in terms of health and work factors than the subgroups with either prolonged fatigue or burnout. Similar patterns were found for subjective fatigue and exhaustion.


CONCLUSIONS
There appear to be some relevant differences between burnout and prolonged fatigue, with respect to work and health factors. Burnout and prolonged fatigue can occur both separately and simultaneously. Having both conditions simultaneously seems to be associated with worse outcomes than having either alone.
Leone
S S
SS
Department of Epidemiology, Research Institute Caphri, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. stephanie.leone@epid.unimaas.nl
Huibers
M J H
MJ
Knottnerus
J A
JA
Kant
I J
IJ
D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology*; D003710:Demography; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005221:Fatigue / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology*; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*