This paper presents the first findings from a large-scale epidemiological study of "Fatigue at Work." In particular, the study addresses the question whether fatigue is conceptually and operationally distinct from psychological distress. Aside from the relationship between fatigue and psychological distress, the paper also presents for the first time the prevalence of fatigue and psychological distress in the general working population. As such, the results are particularly interesting to and useful for the multidisciplinary occupational (mental) health research community.

This paper demonstrates that fatigue and psychological distress are common in the working population. Different strategies were used to explore the relationship between fatigue and psychological distress. The findings suggest that fatigue and psychological distress, although closely associated, may be different conditions, which can be measured independently. Hence, the considerable magnitude of fatigue and psychological distress in the working population as well as a further (etiological) disentanglement of the concepts, represent challenges for the field of occupational (mental) health in terms of prevention.

The most significant finding from our study was that fatigue and psychological distress are important public health problems, which are fairly well related in the working population. Also, we showed that there is some evidence suggesting that fatigue and psychological distress are different conditions, which can be measured separately.

The study presented in this paper is part of a research initiative on "Fatigue at Work," i.e., the Maastricht Cohort Study. As members of the Maastricht Cohort Study Team, we are interested in the measures and the constructs of fatigue and psychological distress, and in particular in understanding the relationship between fatigue and psychological distress.

Ute Bültmann, Ph.D.
National Institute of Occupational Health
Department of Psychology and Sociology
Copenhagen, Denmark