Leisure Opportunities and Fatigue in Employees: A Large Cross-Sectional Study |
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| Authors: | Gerhard W Blasche Anna Arlinghaus Thomas E Dorner |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Environmental Health Centre for Public Health, Medical University, Vienna, Austriagerhard.blasche@meduniwien.ac.at;3. Gesellschaft für Arbeits-, Wirtschafts- und Organisationspsychologische Forschung (GAWO) e.V., Oldenburg, Germany;4. Department of Social Medicine Centre for Public Health, Medical University, Vienna, Austria |
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| Abstract: | The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between perceived leisure availability and fatigue in working individuals and the extent it mediates the known association between work hours and fatigue. A sample of 7,154 working individuals (ages 20–59) was drawn from the Austrian Health Survey 2006–07. The associations were determined using stepwise logistic regression analysis. Individuals perceiving few opportunities for leisure activities had a 2.7 greater likelihood of having prolonged fatigue (95% CI = 2.05–3.29) than those with sufficient leisure, after controlling for relevant confounders. Furthermore, the positive association between weekly hours of work and fatigue was mediated to a greater part by leisure opportunities, indicating that working long hours leads to fatigue by limiting leisure opportunities. The results of this study suggest that the perceived availability of leisure is a source of health and well-being in working individuals. |
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| Keywords: | fatigue leisure long work hours overtime recovery from work |
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