WHAT MAKES WOMEN TIRED - A COMMUNITY SAMPLE

We aimed to determine the major health concerns or problems of women a nd their personal attributions for the causes of their primary health concerns. We used a survey of women from the Toronto area attending a women's health symposium. Completed questionnaires were returned by 15 3 (85%) of 180 women attendees. Persistent fatigue was the primary and most commonly cited health concern. Fatigue was ranked first by 42 (2 7.5%) women and among the top 10 concerns by 123 (80.4%) women. Women attributed their fatigue to a combination of home and outside work (63 .4%), poor sleep (38.2%), lack of time for self (34.1%), lack of exerc ise (32.5%), financial worries (28.5%), relationship problems (22.0%), emotional causes (17.9%), care of ill family members (13.8%), lack of social or individual support (9.8%), poor physical health (8.9%), wor k in home or child care (3.3%), or gender bias/harassment (2.4%). Our subjects, women from the community, overwhelmingly endorsed social det erminants as the cause of their persistent fatigue. Although depressio n and anxiety form the most robust associations with persistent fatigu e in primary care and community studies, women in this sample ranked t hese factors in seventh place in their attributions. Similarly, althou gh physicians often assume physical causes for fatigue, women rank phy sical health low in their own attributions. Given the high prevalence of fatigue in women and its impact on quality of life, more attention needs to be given to the social, systemic, and personal factors that w omen feel contribute to their fatigue to develop more effective interv entions.