The Psychological and Physiological Health Effects of Fatigue

Background: The issue of employee fatigue is becoming increasingly prominent, particularly in safety-critical industries.

Aims: To produce an in-depth review collating the known psychological and physiological health and work effects of fatigue to guide mitigation strategies in safety-critical industries.

Methods: Literature searches were conducted via scientific databases using appropriate filters and keywords. The available results were collated into a review and commentary.

Results: Decreased sleep duration and chronodisruption have been shown to cause both significant morbidity and mortality. There is a large body of evidence showing strong associations between fatigue, reduced cognition and occupational accidents, as well as increased metabolic and reproductive health sequelae, some forms of cancer and mortality. Additional evidence links fatigue with mental, gastrointestinal, neurological and chronic pain sequelae.

Conclusions: Fatigue risk mitigation strategies should be implemented, not only to reduce these short- and long-term health risks in employees of safety-critical industries, but also to create more efficient, productive and effective workplace personnel with longer and more fulfilling careers. This requires improved acute fatigue mitigation, as well as the prevention of cumulative fatigue build-up and the formation of acute-on-chronic fatigue. The health recommendations for fatigue mitigation outlined in this paper are pertinent to all professions where employees have high rates of both acute and chronic fatigue.