Multiple exposure sources and occupational fatigue profiles among healthcare workers: a cross-sectional latent...

Occupational fatigue is a complex and widespread issue among healthcare workers, yet its heterogeneous manifestations remain inadequately studied. This study aimed to identify distinct fatigue profiles and examine the multifaceted determinants that differentiate these profiles.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 734 healthcare workers. The assessment was conducted using the newly developed Healthcare Worker Occupational Fatigue Scale that has undergone reliability and validity tests. Latent profile analysis was used to identify occupational fatigue subgroups, and multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the influencing factors of each subgroup.

Latent profile analysis identified four distinguishable occupational fatigue subgroups: the compensated group (17.97%), the prodromal-symptomatic group (35.29%), the decompensated diffuse group (37.87%), and the systemic crisis group (8.86%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that perceived workload, department affiliation, number of night shifts per month, low intention to stay, noisy environment, commuting time, and individual-level factors, including gender and health status, were significant risk factors for occupational fatigue.

Occupational fatigue among healthcare workers exhibits substantial heterogeneity and can be categorized into four distinct profiles, with multiple contributing factors. It is necessary to adopt hierarchical and personalized intervention strategies based on precise subgroup characteristics, such as systematically reducing the workload and optimizing the acoustic environment for the severe fatigue group, in order to effectively alleviate the occupational fatigue of healthcare workers.