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Chronic fatigue of the small enterprise workers participating in an occupational health checkup center in southern Taiwan

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Abstract

Purpose

There has been increasing interest in the occupational health of workers in small enterprises, especially in developing countries. This study examines the association between psychosocial job characteristics and fatigue, and attempts to identify risk factors for fatigue among workers of small enterprises in southern Taiwan.

Methods

A structured questionnaire was administered to workers receiving regular health examinations between August 2005 and January 2006. The questionnaire collected demographic information and data on working conditions, personal health status and life styles. It also collected information on psychosocial job characteristics, fatigue and psychological distress using three instruments.

Results

A total of 647 workers with mean age of 43.7 were completed. Probable fatigue was found in 34.6% of the sample. Fatigue was found by multiple logistic regressions to be associated with the lack of exercise, working in shifts, depression score and lack of social support at workplace.

Conclusions

This study found associations between life style, psychosocial job characteristics and fatigue. Because the high prevalence of probable fatigue was found in such small enterprises, the authors suggest that a short interview with some quick questionnaires in health checkup for these small enterprise workers are helpful to early detect psychosocial and fatigue problems.

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Acknowledgment

The authors appreciate the colleagues in the Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital and Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital. We also appreciate the cooperation of workers and employers. The study was partly supported by the National Health Research Institute (NHRI) in Taiwan (Grant No: NHRI-CN-PD9611P). The authors declare they have no competing financial interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Fu-Wei Wang, Ming-Shium Tu & Ming-Yueh Chou

  2. Department of Community Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, #100 Shih-Chuan First Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan

    Yu-Wen Chiu, Chao-Ling Wang & Hung-Yi Chuang

  3. Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, #100 Shih-Chuan First Road, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan

    Hung-Yi Chuang

Authors
  1. Fu-Wei Wang
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  2. Yu-Wen Chiu
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  3. Ming-Shium Tu
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  4. Ming-Yueh Chou
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  5. Chao-Ling Wang
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Correspondence to Hung-Yi Chuang.

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Wang, FW., Chiu, YW., Tu, MS. et al. Chronic fatigue of the small enterprise workers participating in an occupational health checkup center in southern Taiwan. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 82, 819–825 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-009-0429-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-009-0429-2

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