Frequency Analysis of Chronic Fatigue and Depression Who Working at the Faculty of Medicine Research Assistants

Aim: Purpose of this study; to examine to the frequency of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and depression of research assistants of Düzce University Medical Faculty and also to evaluate the factors involved in the development of this syndrome.Material and methods: 78 physicians that including 47 male, 31 female, participated in this descriptive and cross-sectional survey. Questionnaire form applied by Face-to-face interview method and it consist of open-ended questions and two or multiple-choice questions. It consists of 14 questions in respect to demographic attributes, working conditions, habits and spare time activities. Also, index of the 17-item HAM-D (Hamilton rating scale for depression) and CFS evaluations criteria of CDC (Center for Disease Control) added in the survey. Results: In our study, there were no differences in physicians of CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), ICF (idiopathic chronic fatigue), PF (prolonged fatigue), and NF (No fatigue) groups with regards to monthly expenses, average age and BMI (body mass index). Although there was no a statistically significant difference, cases of ICF and CFS observed as more working, less social life and more slept. Also, it detected as patients of ICF and CFS were significantly worse health status than other groups. 29,4% of the participants were considered to be CFS. Risk factors that impact on the CFS (when considering age, gender, marital status, working hours, school performance, boarding school, alcohol and smoking): alcohol, smoking, boarding school for a long time, gender (being female) and overachievement on graduate education. There was detected higher HAM-D scale value for CFS patients.Conclusion: It is a high rate of CFS in research assistants, and it was also found in association with CFS and depression, female gender, cigarette smoking and boarding for a long time to education.