Restorative effects of forest therapy on mental health of fatigued female office workers / 环境与职业医学

Background Female office workers are prone to fatigue due to work and life stress. The natural environment has a positive effect on health, but little research has focused on the effects of forest therapy on physical and mental health of female office workers. Objective To explore the effect of forest therapy on the mental health of fatigued female office workers. Methods In this study, two environments, urban and forest, were selected. A total of 12 subjects with fatigue were recruited and randomly divided into two groups, urban and forest, six subjects in each group, with mean ages of 24.7 and 28.4 years, respectively, all of whom were company employees. The Brief Mood Scale, the Chinese version of Stress Self-Rating Scale, and the Fatigue Self-Rating Scale were distributed to assess baseline psychological indexes of mood, fatigue, and stress status. Higher scores indicate higher levels of negative mood, fatigue, and stress, respectively. The forest group participated in an on-site experiment using forest therapy (forest walks and sits in a forest environment), and the urban group followed the same schedule as the forest group conducting walks and sits in an urban environment. Salivary cortisol was used as the physiological index. Baseline physiological indices were collected on the first day of the experiment, and the on-site forest therapy experiment and collecting physiological and psychological indices were conducted on the second day; physiological indices were collected in the morning before the walk and physiological and psychological indices were collected after the walk, physiological indices were collected in the afternoon before and during the sitting, and psychological indices were collected after the sitting. Subjects' mood and fatigue status were followed up one week after the activity. Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to assess the changes of the indicators. Results As to the physiological indicator, the salivary cortisol concentrations before and after the morning walk in the forest group were lower than the corresponding baseline values (both P=0.043); and the decreases were 2.21 and 1.86 nmol·L−1 respectively. Differences between groups showed a trend towards a greater decrease in salivary cortisol concentrations in the forest group than in the urban group after walking and at the 15 th min of sitting (both P=0.068). Among the mood indicators, the forest group showed a greater decrease than the urban group in fatigue dimension after walking (P=0.065) and after sitting (P=0.024); the forest group showed a greater decrease than the urban group in vitality dimension after walking (P=0.054) and after sitting (P=0.045); and the forest group showed a greater decrease than the urban group in "total mood disorder" after sitting (P=0.054). Among the fatigue indicators, the forest group showed a greater decrease in "physical fatigue", "mental fatigue", "consequences of fatigue", and "general fatigue" after walking and sitting than the urban group (all P<0.05). Among the stress indicators, there were not statistically significance of "tension", "loss of control", and "total stress score" between the two groups after sitting (both P>0.05). After one week after the activity, there were not statistically significant differences of mood and fatigue between the two groups (both P>0.05). Conclusion Forest therapy has a regulating effect on symptoms of negative mood, and fatigue in fatigued female office workers, but the effects of a short-term forest therapy last for a limited duration.

The reliability and validity of the Chinese version of multidimensional fatigue symptom inventory-short form / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective To assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of Multidimensional fatigue symptom inventory-short form(MFSI-SF).Methods The reliability and validity of the Chinese version MFSI-SF were assessed in a sample of 203 cancer patients.Statistical software was used to perform the analysis.Results The results showed moderate correlation between items and the total scale,the content validity index was 0.82,and exploratory factor analysis indicated five dimensions of the scale,the cumulative variance contribution was 56.65％.Confirmatory factor analysis showed moderate model fitting:x2/df=l.73,GFI=0.83,AGFI=0.79,NNFI=0.94,RMSEA=0.06,criterion validity was 0.585,and the Cronbach α of the total scale was 0.896.Conclusions The results demonstrated good convergent validity,it is suitable to evaluate fatigue status in Chinese cancer patients.

Effects of Quality of Sleep and Related Factors for Fatigue Symptoms of Nurses in an University Hospital / 성인간호학회지

PURPOSE: The present study was intended to measure fatigue symptoms according to the quality of sleep among nurses working for an university hospital and to reveal its related factors. METHODS: The self-administered questionnaires were given to 397 nurses employed in an university hospital located in Daejeon City during the period from June 1st to July 31st, 2007. RESULTS: The group with higher quality of sleep accounted for 78.1% of all the subjects and the one with lower quality, 21.9%. According to qualities of sleep, the fatigue symptom was determined to be significantly higher in the group with lower quality of sleep than its counterpart. On adjustment for quality of sleep, the level of fatigue symptom was significantly higher in the groups, than in each respective counterparts, who don't take regular exercises, who have few leisure time, who have lower level of subjective health status, who range> or = 1 and < 10 years in job careers, who work in shifts, who reported that it is hard to get physical burden of work, who are satisfied with the job, who find themselves unfit to the job, who are considering quitting the job, who have higher job demand, who have lower job control, who have higher level of supervisor support, who have type A behavior pattern. CONCLUSION: The study results may explain that the fatigue symptom of nurses is highly associated with the quality of sleep independently of other variables and also with job-related characteristics independently of the sleep quality. In conclusion, to reduce the fatigue symptom of nurses, strategic efforts should be directed for programs to improve the quality of sleep and a proper job analysis.

Related factors on Fatigue Symptom in Married Working women / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the related factors on fatigue symptoms among married working women. METHODS: Data was analyzed from a cross-sectional survey of 902 married working women. Information was obtained about fatigue symptoms, sociodemographics, health behaviors, and job-related characteristics. Multiple regression tested the related factors on fatigue symptoms in married working women. RESULTS: Fatigue was more common in office working women than in manufacture working women. Mean fatigue symptom was significantly higher in office working than in manufacture working women(p=0.002). In a multiple regression analysis, fatigue was associated with educational level, alcohol drinking state, stress, and overtime work in a multiple regression analysis(p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that fatigue is affected by job-related factor like overtime work with educational level, alcohol drinking state, or stress. Further research will be needed to establish preventive strategies for controlling the negative effects of fatigue on health stats of married working women.

Factors Related to Psychosocial Distress and Fatigue Symptoms among Clerical Public Officers / 農村醫學 地域保健

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the level of psychosocial stresses and fatigue symptoms among clerical public officers and its related factors. METHODS: The self-administered questionnaires were performed, during the period between Dec. 5th, 2005 and Jan. 31st, 2006, to 1,005 individuals in the service of general administration located in Daejeon Metropolitan City. The survey items included subjects' socio-demographic and job-related characteristics, health-related behavior, degree of job demand, job autonomy, social support in work, type A behavior pattern, locus of control, sense of self-esteem, psychosocial distress and degree of fatigue. RESULTS: The study results indicated that the level of stress or fatigue is so complicatedly influenced by variable factors as well as job-related characteristics such as socio-demographic characteristics, rank in work, or job career, to a greater extent, by job specifications and personality traits(type A) like whether performing health-related behavior or not, job demand, job autonomy, social support in work, or sense of self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS: Thus the effective strategy for psychosocial distress and fatigue symptoms reduction among governmental employees requires additional programs focusing on innovated job specifications and managed personality trait.

Development of a Fatigue Symptom Checklist for Commercial Drivers: An Experimental Trial / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVES: Fatigue is a primary human factor for decreased job performance in the workplace. It is well documented that drowsiness is a typical symptom of fatigue and is closely associated with commercial drivers'safety and well-being. However, few studies have been conducted to develop or validate fatigue symptom instruments for a working population. The main purpose of this study was to develop a general fatigue checklist and a driving fatigue checklist for Korean commercial drivers. METHODS: A total of 287 bus drivers in a commercial transportation company participated in a self-administered survey that was designated Study 1. Based on the statistical results of Study 1, a focus meeting with 16 professional consultants was conducted to revise the fatigue symptom instrument for Study 2. In Study 2, 288 commercial drivers (156 bus drivers and 132 truck drivers) participated in the revised questionnaire survey. All collected responses were entered into a SPSS worksheet and the data analysis was conducted using SPSS software 11.1. The exploratory factor analysis used in this study followed the principle component factoring rule and the varimax rotation method for factor extraction. The criteria for item selection were an Eigen value of 1.0 or greater, a communality score of .50 or greater, and no 'fence rider'property over the extracted factors. RESULTS: Through Study 1, the consultant meeting, and Study 2, a general fatigue checklist was developed with a total of 3 factors and 11 items, and a driving fatigue checklist was developed with 2 factors and 10 items. The 3 factors of the general fatigue checklist were physical fatigue, psychological fatigue, and chronic tiredness. The two factors of the driving fatigue checklist were physical fatigue and perceptive and functional fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: The primary contents of general fatigue were different from those of driving fatigue according to the two fatigue instrument factors developed in this study. The primary fatigue symptoms of the commercial driving population were identified as physical fatigue and perceptive and functional fatigue.