FATIGUE IN THE GENERAL NORWEGIAN POPULATION - NORMATIVE DATA AND ASSOCIATIONS

Population norms for interpretation of fatigue measurements have been lacking, and the sociodemographic associations of fatigue are poorly d ocumented. A random sample of 3500 Norwegians, aged 19-80 years, was t herefore investigated. A mailed questionnaire included the fatigue que stionnaire (11 items) in which the sum score of the responses (each sc ored 0, 1, 2, 3) is designated as total fatigue (TF). Sixty-seven perc ent of those receiving the questionnaire responded. Women (TF mean = 1 2.6) were more fatigued than men (TF mean = 11.9), and 11.4% reported substantial fatigue lasting 6 months or longer. TF and age were weakly correlated (men: r = 0.17; women: r = 0.09). No firm associations bet ween fatigue and social variables were found. Disabled and subjects re porting health problems were more fatigued than subjects at work or in good health. Fatigue is highly prevalent in somatic and psychiatric d isorders, but is often neglected. This national representative sample provides age- and gender-specific norms that will allow for comparison s and interpretations of fatigue scores in future studies. (C) 1998 El sevier Science Inc.