Associations of occupational stress, workplace violence, and organizational support on chronic fatigue syndrome among nurses

AIMS: Chronic fatigue syndrome is an agnogenic disease worldwide. Nurses are at a high risk of chronic fatigue syndrome. However, no research has been done to examine the associations of workplace violence, organizational support, and occupational stress with chronic fatigue syndrome among Chinese nurses. This study aimed to examine effects of these factors on chronic fatigue syndrome in this occupational group. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. All participants voluntarily completed a questionnaire survey. METHODS: The study was conducted in Liaoning province from December 2017-January 2018. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 1,200 nurses, including Effort-Reward-Imbalance, Workplace Violence Scale, Survey of Perceived Organizational Support, together with age, gender, marital status, education levels, physical activities, job rank, monthly income, and weekly working hours. Complete responses were obtained from 1,080 (90%) participants. Chronic fatigue syndrome was diagnosed by doctors according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to examine these independent risk factors. RESULTS: The prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome was 6.76%. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that nurses who experienced serious higher levels of overcommitment, workplace violence and less organizational support were more likely to be classified as chronic fatigue syndrome. CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome. Lower workplace violence, more organizational support and lower overcommitment could be effective resources for reducing chronic fatigue syndrome. IMPACT: Workplace violence, organizational support, and occupational stress were related to chronic fatigue syndrome, which helped to explain why Chinese nurses suffered higher prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome. Overcommitment explained chronic fatigue syndrome better than Effort/Reward Ratio, so intrinsic stress played a more critical role than extrinsic stress in chronic fatigue syndrome. Chinese nurses suffered serious sleep disorders and impairment of concentration and memory. These symptoms might also attribute to serious occupational stress, unsafe and unsupportive working environment. Creating a safe and supportive working environment, relieving intrinsic occupational stress should be considered as an institutional strategy to early prevent chronic fatigue syndrome.