Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

Fatigue in the general population- associations to age, sex, socioeconomic status, physical activity, sitting time and self-rated health: the northern Sweden MONICA study 2014

Authors: Isak Engberg, Johan Segerstedt, Göran Waller, Patrik Wennberg, Mats Eliasson

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Fatigue is widespread in the population and a common complaint in primary care. Little is known about prevalence of fatigue in the population and its predictors.
We aimed to describe the pattern of fatigue in the general population and to explore the associations with age, sex, socioeconomic status, self-reported physical activity, sitting time and self-rated health.

Methods

One thousand, five hundred and fifty-seven out of 2500 invited subjects in the Northern Sweden MONICA Study 2014, aged 25–74 years, filled out the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20), consisting of four subscales: General fatigue (GF), Physical fatigue (PF), Reduced activity (RA) and Mental fatigue (MF). Questions regarding age, sex, socioeconomic status, physical activity, sitting time and self-rated health were also included.

Results

Higher age correlated significantly with lower fatigue scores for the GF and MF subscales. Women had higher fatigue scores than men on all subscales (p < 0.05). Among men, higher socioeconomic status was related to lower fatigue for the GF, PF and RA subscales (age adjusted p < 0.05). Among women, higher socioeconomic status was related to lower fatigue for the PF and MF subscales (age adjusted p < 0.05). Higher physical activity was connected to lower levels of fatigue for all subscales (age and sex adjusted p < 0.001) except for MF. Longer time spent sitting was also related to more fatigue on all subscales (age and sex adjusted p < 0.005) except for MF. Better self-rated health was strongly associated with lower fatigue for all subscales (age and sex adjusted p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Older, highly educated, physically active men, with little sedentary behavior are generally the least fatigued. Self-rated health is strongly related to fatigue. Interventions increasing physical exercise and reducing sedentary behavior may be important to help patients with fatigue and should be investigated in prospective studies.
Literature
1.
Boter H, Manty M, Hansen AM, Hortobagyi T, Avlund K. Self-reported fatigue and physical function in late mid-life. J Rehabil Med. 2014;46(7):684–90.PubMedCrossRef
2.
Schwarz R, Krauss O, Hinz A. Fatigue in the general population. Onkologie. 2003;26(2):140–4.PubMed
3.
Lundh Hagelin C, Wengström Y, Runesdotter S, Johan Fürst C. The psychometric properties of the Swedish multidimensional fatigue inventory MFI-20 in four different populations. Acta Oncol. 2007;46(1):97–104.CrossRef
4.
Watt T, Groenvold M, Bjorner JB, Noerholm V, Rasmussen NA, Bech P. Fatigue in the Danish general population. Influence of sociodemographic factors and disease. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2000;54(11):827–33.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
5.
Cullen W, Kearney Y, Bury G. Prevalence of fatigue in general practice. Ir J Med Sci. 2002;171(1):10–2.PubMedCrossRef
6.
Ridsdale L, Evans A, Jerrett W, Mandalia S, Osler K, Vora H. Patients with fatigue in general practice: a prospective study. BMJ. 1993;307(6896):103–6.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
7.
Nijrolder I, van der Windt D, de Vries H, van der Horst H. Diagnoses during follow-up of patients presenting with fatigue in primary care. CMAJ. 2009;181(10):683–7.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
8.
Mota DD, Pimenta CA. Self-report instruments for fatigue assessment: a systematic review. Res Theory Nurs Pract. 2006;20(1):49–78.PubMedCrossRef
9.
MacKean PR, Stewart M, Maddocks HL. Psychosocial diagnoses occurring after patients present with fatigue. Can Fam Physician. 2016;62(8):e465–72.PubMedPubMedCentral
10.
Basu N, Yang X, Luben RN, Whibley D, Macfarlane GJ, Wareham NJ, Khaw K, Myint PK. Fatigue is associated with excess mortality in the general population: results from the EPIC-Norfolk study. BMC Med. 2016;14(1):122.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
11.
Segerstedt J, Lundqvist R, Eliasson M. Patients with type 1 diabetes in Sweden experience more fatigue than the general population. J Clin Transl Endocrin. 2015;2(3):105–9.
12.
Fieo RA, Mortensen EL, Lund R, Avlund K. Assessing fatigue in late-midlife: increased scrutiny of the multiple fatigue inventory-20 for community-dwelling subjects. Assessment. 2014;21(6):706–12.PubMedCrossRef
13.
Smets E, Garssen B. Bonke Bd, de Haes J: the multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI) psychometric qualities of an instrument to assess fatigue. J Psychosom Res. 1995;39(3):315–25.PubMedCrossRef
14.
Castell BD, Kazantzis N, Moss-Morris RE. Cognitive behavioral therapy and graded exercise for chronic fatigue syndrome: a meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Sci Pract. 2011;18(4):311–24.CrossRef
15.
16.
Andersson M, Stridsman C, Rönmark E, Lindberg A, Emtner M. Physical activity and fatigue in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease–a population based study. Respir Med. 2015;109(8):1048–57.PubMedCrossRef
17.
Wennberg P, Boraxbekk CJ, Wheeler M, Howard B, Dempsey PC, Lambert G, Eikelis N, Larsen R, Sethi P, Occleston J, Hernestal-Boman J, Ellis KA, Owen N, Dunstan DW. Acute effects of breaking up prolonged sitting on fatigue and cognition: a pilot study. BMJ Open. 2016;6(2):e009630. -2015-009630PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
18.
Ellingson LD, Kuffel AE, Vack NJ, Cook DB. Active and sedentary behaviors influence feelings of energy and fatigue in women. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014;46(1):192–200.PubMedCrossRef
19.
Waller G, Janlert U, Hamberg K, Forssen A. What does age-comparative self-rated health measure? A cross-sectional study from the northern Sweden MONICA project. Scand J Public Health. 2016;44(3):233–9.PubMedCrossRef
20.
Taloyan M, Leineweber C, Hyde M, Westerlund H. Self-rated health amongst male and female employees in Sweden: a nationally representative study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2015;88(7):849–59.PubMedCrossRef
21.
Eriksson M, Forslund AS, Jansson JH, Soderberg S, Wennberg M, Eliasson M. Greater decreases in cholesterol levels among individuals with high cardiovascular risk than among the general population: the northern Sweden MONICA study 1994 to 2014. Eur Heart J. 2016;37(25):1985–92.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
22.
InterAct Consortium. Validity of a short questionnaire to assess physical activity in 10 European countries. Eur J Epidemiol. 2012;27(1):15–25.CrossRef
23.
Milton K, Gale J, Stamatakis E, Bauman A. Trends in prolonged sitting time among European adults: 27 country analysis. Prev Med. 2015;77:11–6.PubMedCrossRef
24.
Novak M. Social inequity in health: Explanation from a life course and gender perspective (Thesis). Umeå: Department of Public Health & Clinical Medicine, Family Medicine, Umeå University; 2010.
25.
26.
Ekelund U, Steene-Johannessen J, Brown WJ, Fagerland MW, Owen N, Powell KE, Bauman A, Lee I, Series LPA. Lancet sedentary behaviour working group: does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than 1 million men and women. Lancet. 2016;388(10051):1302–10.PubMedCrossRef
27.
Christian LM, Glaser R, Porter K, Malarkey WB, Beversdorf D, Kiecolt-Glaser JK. Poorer self-rated health is associated with elevated inflammatory markers among older adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2011;36(10):1495–504.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
28.
Hasson D, Von Thiele SU, Lindfors P. Self-rated health and allostatic load in women working in two occupational sectors. J Health Psychol. 2009;14(4):568–77.PubMedCrossRef
29.
Jylhä M. What is self-rated health and why does it predict mortality? Towards a unified conceptual model. Soc Sci Med. 2009;69(3):307–16.PubMedCrossRef
30.
Goligher EC, Pouchot J, Brant R, Kherani RB, Avina-Zubieta JA, Lacaille D, Lehman AJ, Ensworth S, Kopec J, Esdaile JM, Liang MH. Minimal clinically important difference for 7 measures of fatigue in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. J Rheumatol. 2008;35(4):635–42.PubMed
31.
Purcell A, Fleming J, Bennett S, Burmeister B, Haines T. Determining the minimal clinically important difference criteria for the multidimensional fatigue inventory in a radiotherapy population. Support Care Cancer. 2010;18(3):307–15.PubMedCrossRef
32.
Berntsen S, Aaronson NK, Buffart L, Börjeson S, Demmelmaier I, Hellbom M, Hojman P, Igelström H, Johansson B, Pingel R, Raastad T, Velikova G, Åsenlöf P, Nordin K. Design of a randomized controlled trial of physical training and cancer (phys-can) - the impact of exercise intensity on cancer related fatigue, quality of life and disease outcome. BMC Cancer. 2017;17(1):218.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
Metadata
Title
Fatigue in the general population- associations to age, sex, socioeconomic status, physical activity, sitting time and self-rated health: the northern Sweden MONICA study 2014
Authors
Isak Engberg
Johan Segerstedt
Göran Waller
Patrik Wennberg
Mats Eliasson
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4623-y

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

BMC Public Health 1/2017 Go to the issue

Research article

A systematic review of factors that shape implementation of mass drug administration for lymphatic filariasis in sub-Saharan Africa

Research article

Motivation and obstacles for weight management among young women – a qualitative study with a public health focus - the Tromsø study: Fit Futures

Research article

Association of nutrition club membership with markers of health: a cross sectional study

Research article

Contextual and psychosocial factors predicting Ebola prevention behaviours using the RANAS approach to behaviour change in Guinea-Bissau

Research article

Smoking and heavy drinking patterns in rural, urban and rural-to-urban migrants: the PERU MIGRANT Study

Research article

Sustainability via Active Garden Education (SAGE): results from two feasibility pilot studies