A Large Database Study of the Factors Associated with Work-Induced Fatigue

Abstract

A computer survey was conducted using the records of 3705 temporary employees who reported job fatigue during their assignments; 10,000 additional employees, who did not report fatigue, were also surveyed in order to establish base rates. Low job challenge, poor-quality supervision, low job control, poor job performance, and low pay rates were associated with employees' experiencing job fatigue. Low physical demand and low information-processing demand positions were also associated with the experience of fatigue, possibly because these variables fell below minimal thresholds necessary to maintain arousal and avoid boredom. The upper portion of the arousal-performance curve was not properly evaluated in this survey. Fatigue may result from processing too much or too little information. Motivational factors probably serve to moderate this relationship.

Job stress and sleep disorders: findings from the Helsinki Heart Study

“…There is always the possibility of an inverse relationship as well. 12 Fatigue especially may lead into a negative judgement of work conditions, instead of inappropriate work conditions leading to fatigue. A prospective study should be made to investigate the predictive power of the studied job stressors.…”

“…Of the reported fatigue cases, 92 per cent were associated with low-control work assignments. 12 Among more speci®c job factors, high information-processing demand assignments were far less likely to be associated with reports of job fatigue than were low information-processing assignments. Contrary to expectations, sleep deprivation had a minimal impact on fatigue.…”

The effects of caffeine on simulated driving, subjective alertness and sustained attention

“…Driving over a prolonged period of time, as in long journeys involving motorway travel, has been found to induce tiredness (Finkleman, 1994), and lapses in attention, even to the point of falling asleep at the wheel. Given the established effects of caffeine on computerised tasks, including improved reaction time, attention and increased alertness, these effects of caffeine may also be bene®cial to performance in a monotonous driving situation.…”

What is behind “i'm so tired”? fatigue experiences and their relations to the quality and quantity of external stimulation

“…External stimulation is defined as the stimuli perceived in daily life. On the basis of a stress model, many authors assume a positive correlation between external stimulation and fatigue [6][7][8][9][10], but empirical evidence has 510 de RIJK et al also shown that low levels of external stimulation correlate with fatigue [11][12][13]. Bensing et al [2] found empirical evidence in support of too much external stimulation (having a job and children under 6 years of age) in women and too little external stimulation (being unemployed) in men relating to fatigue.…”