title: Physical and mental fatigue as predictors of sickness absence among Norwegian nurses.
abstract: We investigated whether fatigue can be used to screen nursing populations for risk of sickness absence. Data were available from a prospective cohort study of 2,059 Norwegian nurses working in hospital care, psychiatric care, and nursing home/home care settings. Physical and mental fatigue were measured at baseline with Chalder's Fatigue Questionnaire (FQ). Self-rated sickness absence at 1-year follow-up was considered high if nurses reported >30 sick days in the past year. Physical fatigue accurately predicted high sickness absence and adequately discriminated between high- and low-risk nurses in nursing home/home care settings. Mental fatigue was not predictive in any setting. The FQ is suitable for screening specific nursing populations for the risk of high sickness absence.
authors: Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Utrecht, The Netherlands; ArboNed Occupational Health Service, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors: Corné A M
authors: CA
authors: Roelen
authors: Ute
authors: U
authors: Bültmann
authors: Johan
authors: J
authors: Groothoff
authors: Willem
authors: W
authors: van Rhenen
authors: Nils
authors: N
authors: Magerøy
authors: Bente E
authors: BE
authors: Moen
authors: Ståle
authors: S
authors: Pallesen
authors: Bjørn
authors: B
authors: Bjorvatn
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D005222:Mental Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire; absenteeism; nursing staffing; prognostic models; sensitivity and specificity; sick days