ABSTRACT
Objective
The purpose of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion/Recovery (OFER).
Methods
A cross-sectional study among 434 healthcare workers was undertaken. The factorial validity of the OFER, was compared using standard confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Internal consistency, convergent validity, and factorial invariance (across gender) were assessed.
Results
A three-factor first-order ESEM solution provided the best and most parsimonious representation of the data: χ2(63) = 212.81, p < .001, RMSEA = 0.074 (90% CI 0.063–0.085), CFI = 0.949, TLI = 0.915. The three-factors were chronic fatigue, acute fatigue, and intershift recovery. Chronic and acute factors showed excellent internal consistency (ω > 0.80), however intershift recovery showed less internal consistency (ω < 0.70). OFER scores were found to be positively correlated with FAS scores, supporting its convergent validity.
Conclusions
The OFER was factorially invariant across gender. Overall, our findings provided evidence for the satisfactory psychometric properties of the OFER among Italian workers, confirming its value for use in both practical occupational and academic research settings.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
Data are available from the corresponding author upon rea-sonable request.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Igor Portoghese
Igor Portoghese is an Associate Professor in Occupational Medicine at the University of Cagliari. His main research interests include work-related stress, job burnout, occupational wellbeing.
Maura Galletta
Maura Galletta is an Associate Professor in Nursing at the University of Cagliari. Her main research interests include nursing management and nursing leadership.
Peter Winwood
Peter Charles Winwood is Research Associate at the University of South Australia. His main research interests include work related fatigue and recovery, with particular reference to the underlying neurophysiological changes associated with prolonged exposure to high level stress experience.
Sergio Pili
Sergio Pili is Occupational Physician and Research Assistant. His field of interest is occupational health and also environmental exposure to ultrafine particles.
Luigi Isaia Lecca
Luigi Isaia Lecca is an Assistant Professor in Occupational Medicine at the University of Cagliari. His main research interests include work-related stress, nanoparticle exposure, and cardiovascular disease among working populations.
Marcello Campagna
Marcello Campagna is Full Professor in Occupational Medicine at the University of Cagliari. His main research interests include work-related stress, occupational and environmental exposure.