title: Factors on working conditions and prolonged fatigue among physicians in Japan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fatigue among physicians could affect patients' safety and physicians' health. Fatigue could be caused by unfavorable working conditions. However, there have been no studies on the working conditions and fatigue among physicians in Japan. The objective of this study was to determine the factors on working conditions associated with prolonged fatigue among physicians in Japan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was mailed to physicians who graduated from one of the medical schools in Japan and who have had more than 3 years of experience in clinical practice. They were asked to assess 10 different aspects of their working conditions using a 5-point Likert scale. Prolonged fatigue was measured using the checklist of individual strength questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the multivariate relationship between the variables and prolonged fatigue. Data from 377 men and 101 women were analyzed in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For both male and female physicians, a harder workload was positively associated and better career satisfaction was negatively associated with prolonged fatigue. Prolonged fatigue was negatively associated with better relationships with other physicians and staff for male physicians and less personal time for female physicians. The adjusted variance in prolonged fatigue related to exposure variables was 26 and 29% in men and in women, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The result of this study suggested that it is desirable to take these factors into consideration in the management of prolonged fatigue among physicians in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. kwada-sgy@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Mayuri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arimatsu
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oda
authors.forename: Hatsumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higashi
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aizawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology*; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*