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An estimated 40 percent of employees in the U.S. experience fatigue, a problem that carries billions of dollars in costs from lost productivity, according to a study by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

Researchers analyzed data from a nationwide study of the relationship between health and productivity at work, focusing on the effects of fatigue on absenteeism and presenteeism. The study found:

• of the nearly 29,000 employed adults interviewed, 38 percent said they had experienced "low levels of energy, poor sleep, or a feeling of fatigue" during the past two weeks;

• fatigue was more common in women than men, in workers less than 50 years old and in white workers compared with African Americans;

• workers with "high-control" jobs and relatively well paid jobs with decision-making responsibility also reported higher rates of fatigue;

• the rate of lost productivity for all health-related reasons was also much higher for workers with fatigue – 66 percent, compared with 26 percent for workers without fatigue;

• total lost productive time averaged 5.6 hours per week for workers with fatigue, compared to 3.3 hours for their counterparts without fatigue;

• only nine percent of workers with fatigue reported lost productive work time. Fatigue reduced work performance mainly by interfering with concentration and increasing the time needed to accomplish tasks; and

• fatigue produced costs of more than $136 billion per year in health-related lost productivity – $101 billion more than for workers without fatigue. Eighty-four percent of the costs were related to reduced performance while at work, rather than absences.

Health conditions for which fatigue is a major symptom, such as depression or anxiety, accounted for only a small part of the losses. Most of the costs were thought to result from a wide range of other physical and mental health problems that may occur when fatigue is also present, researchers said.

Researchers suggest that companies could offer "work-life programs" to help employees balance their work and personal responsibilities, and take steps to improve assessment and treatment for the large subgroup of workers who have fatigue co-occurring with other health conditions.

Address: American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 25 Northwest Point Blvd., Suite 700, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1030; (847) 818-1800, www.acoem.org.