Fatigue after COVID-19 in occupationally exposed workers: prevalence, severity and associated risk factors in a cross-sectional analysis of a multicentre registry study

Objectives As fatigue is among the most frequent manifestations of post-COVID syndrome (PCS), this study aimed to assess the prevalence and severity of cognitive and physical fatigue after occupational SARS-CoV-2 infection and to identify sociodemographic, clinical and occupational predictors of fatigue severity. Design Cross-sectional analysis of a multicentre prospective registry.

Setting Six German Social Accident Insurance hospitals distributed across Germany, providing standardised post-COVID assessments for individuals with persistent symptoms following occupational SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants Workers with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection recognised as an occupational disease or work-related accident who presented with persistent symptoms and were enrolled in a multicentre post-COVID registry.

Primary and secondary outcome measures Cognitive and physical fatigue severity assessed using validated self-administered questionnaires (Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Functions, Modified Fatigue Impact Scale and Würzburg Fatigue Inventory for Multiple Sclerosis). Clinical relevance was determined based on established cut-offs reported in the literature.

Fatigue severity was operationalised using median splits of the respective subscales to identify factors associated with higher fatigue levels. Results Among 1511 registry cases, 628 participants had complete fatigue data.