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International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
Published in: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 7/2007

01-07-2007 | Original Article

Fatigue, emotional exhaustion and perceived health complaints associated with work-related characteristics in employees with and without chronic diseases

Authors: N. C. G. M. Donders, K. Roskes, J. W. J. van der Gulden

Published in: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health | Issue 7/2007

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Abstract

Objectives

Ageing of the Dutch working force and increasingly more stringent restrictions regarding early retirement and disability benefits are leading to higher numbers of workers with ill health. Until now, only a few studies have explored how employees with ill health perceive their work. This study investigated possible differences in scores on fatigue, emotional exhaustion, perceived health complaints and various work-related characteristics between chronically ill (CIWs) and non-chronically ill workers (NCIWs), as well as differences in associations between work- and health-related characteristics.

Methods

A questionnaire was sent to all employees of a Dutch university to collect data on perceived work-related and health-related characteristics (response 49.1%). Differences in various scores were analysed using χ 2-tests and the general linear model. Associations between the work- and the health-related characteristics were determined by multiple linear regression analyses in the CIWs (n = 444) and NCIWs (n = 1,347) separately. Interaction terms were included to detect differences between the two groups.

Results

The results indicated that the CIWs had less favourable scores on the three health-related characteristics. Also, the CIWs scored less favourably than the NCIWs on almost all the work-related characteristics. In the two groups, negative work-related aspects, such as higher work pressure, contributed most to explaining the variance in the health-related characteristics. However, in the CIWs, fatigue was not explained by the work-related aspects as much as in the NCIWs. In the CIWs, the association between unpleasant treatment and the health-related characteristics was stronger than in the NCIWs, but there were indications that autonomy, possibilities for learning and social support from superiors also played an important role.

Conclusions

CIWs perceived more fatigue, emotional exhaustion and health complaints than NCIWs. There were different patterns of associations between work- and health-related characteristics in the NCIWs and CIWs. Future studies on associations between work-related characteristics and health should take the presence of chronic disease into account.
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Metadata
Title
Fatigue, emotional exhaustion and perceived health complaints associated with work-related characteristics in employees with and without chronic diseases
Authors
N. C. G. M. Donders
K. Roskes
J. W. J. van der Gulden
Publication date
01-07-2007
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health / Issue 7/2007
Print ISSN: 0340-0131
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1246
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-006-0168-6

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