title: A community-based cross-sectional study of fatigue in middle-aged and elderly women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fatigue has been widely studied in the general population; however, limited studies have investigated it in the female population. The objectives of this community-based study were to (1) investigate the prevalence of fatigue, (2) explore the relationship between gynecological history and experiences of fatigue, and (3) identify risk factors for fatigue in middle-aged and elderly women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on a cross-sectional health study that employed a multi-instrument questionnaire, 1272 women aged 45years or older dwelling in the community were included. The Chinese version of Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS) was used to assess fatigue, and socio-demographic, health-related, and gynecological data were also collected. Fatigue was defined as a total CFS score≥4.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of fatigue among women aged over 45years was 33.9%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that older age, single marital status, lower education level, the presence of chronic diseases, underweight, hospitalization in the last year, postmenopause, and a higher number of live births were associated with an increased risk of fatigue (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicated that fatigue was common in middle-aged and elderly females. Being postmenopausal and having more than three live births were the particular gynecological factors contributing to fatigue in the general population.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, School of Nursing, Henan University, Kaifeng, China. Electronic address: jing53905@163.com.
authors.forename: Meng-Juan
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: wjiaji@163.com.
authors.forename: Jia-Ji
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: linweiquan0503@163.com.
authors.forename: Wei-Quan
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: gz-leizeng@163.com.
authors.forename: Yi-Xiong
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, School of Nursing, Henan University, Kaifeng, China; Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: peixi001@163.com.
authors.forename: Pei-Xi
authors.initials: PX
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Community-based study; Fatigue; Menopause; Middle-aged and elderly female; Number of live births