Baseline characteristics of the sample of fatigued employees (n = 1143) classified according to outcome (caseness) at 44 month follow up
| Variable | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | p Values for differences between the groups† | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFS-like cases (n = 94) | Non-CFS fatigue cases (n = 457) | No fatigue cases (n = 592) | 1 v 2 | 1 v 3 | 2 v 3 | |
| *p Value is significant at p<0.05. †Pairwise comparisons for continuous and dichotomous variables, overall comparison for categorical variable educational level. CFS-like cases, fatigued employees at baseline who met CFS research criteria at follow up; non-CFS fatigue cases, fatigued employees at baseline who were (still) fatigued but did not meet CFS research criteria at follow up; no fatigue cases, fatigued employees at baseline who were no longer fatigued at follow up. | ||||||
| Demographic | ||||||
| Age, mean (SD) | 43.8 (7.5) | 41.2 (7.9) | 41.3 (7.9) | 0.009* | 0.010* | 1.000 |
| Male sex, number (%) | 61 (65) | 336 (73) | 397 (67) | 0.090 | 0.679 | 0.024* |
| Educational level | ||||||
| High, number (%) | 18 (20) | 187 (42) | 231 (40) | 0.000* | ||
| Medium, number (%) | 45 (48) | 184 (41) | 250 (43) | |||
| Low, number (%) | 30 (32) | 77 (17) | 100 (17) | |||
| Continuous, mean (SD) | ||||||
| Fatigue severity (scale 35–56) | 44.7 (5.9) | 42.7 (5.6) | 40.6 (5.0) | 0.005* | 0.000* | 0.000* |
| Emotional exhaustion (scale 0–6) | 3.5 (1.2) | 3.0 (1.2) | 2.6 (1.1) | 0.005* | 0.000* | 0.000* |
| Psychological distress (scale 0–12) | 5.5 (4.2) | 4.4 (3.8) | 3.6 (3.6) | 0.022* | 0.000* | 0.002* |
| Anxious mood (scale 3–12) | 6.1 (1.8) | 6.0 (1.7) | 5.5 (1.5) | 1.000 | 0.002* | 0.000* |
| Dichotomous, number of cases (%) | ||||||
| Depressed mood | 34 (37) | 106 (24) | 120 (21) | 0.009* | 0.001* | 0.266 |
| Physical attribution of fatigue | 44 (47) | 157 (34) | 200 (34) | 0.022* | 0.014* | 0.847 |
| Psychological attribution of fatigue | 45 (48) | 240 (53) | 282 (48) | 0.412 | 0.966 | 0.117 |
| No specific attribution of fatigue | 21 (23) | 89 (19) | 111 (19) | 0.527 | 0.412 | 0.767 |
| Self rated health (good) | 42 (45) | 256 (57) | 431 (73) | 0.045* | 0.000* | 0.000* |
| Health complaints | 71 (76) | 252 (55) | 283 (48) | 0.000* | 0.000* | 0.022* |
| Absent from work | 9 (10) | 33 (7) | 37 (6) | 0.434 | 0.231 | 0.532 |