Subjective measures of work-related fatigue in automobile factory employees.

BACKGROUND: Work-related fatigue is common among automobile factory employees.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess fatigue of employees at a Chinese automobile factory.

METHODS: 238 employees (119 engineers and 119 workers) participated in this study. The following questionnaires were completed: demographic survey questionnaire, working condition questionnaire (WCQ), functional assessment of chronic illness therapy-fatigue (FACIT-F), subscales of multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI), and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI).

RESULTS: Both engineers and workers experienced fatigue. The workers (35.6 years old, SD = 6.7) generally felt more fatigue than engineers (42.6 years old, SD = 6.4). The engineers claimed to be more satisfied with the working conditions than workers. The WCQ showed good properties for assessing work-related factors, which were significantly correlated with fatigue (r = 0.568 for engineers and r = 0.639 for workers). For engineers, general fatigue was observed regularly and frequently, and for workers, physical fatigue usually had a long duration.

CONCLUSIONS: The fatigue was significantly correlated with work-related factors, especially working environment and monotony. For workers, the duration of the work day also affected their fatigue. Some improvements to the working condition in this automobile factory should be considered.