Factors associated with the evolution of fatigue one year after the lockdown period

The COVID-19 lockdown has induced an increased state of fatigue in the population. However, how fatigue has evolved since the end of the lockdown still needs to be determined. Here, we investigated the evolution of mental and physical fatigue and their associations with daily life characteristics and psychological aspects in a cohort of workers and retirees, separately. 133 workers and 40 retirees completed the same questionnaire in April-May 2020 and 2021, considering their condition during lockdown and one-year post-lockdown. The questionnaire addressed fatigue level, affective state, sleep quality, daily activities, mental load and investment at work (for workers). Variables with significant changes (t-test, p<.05) over the one-year period were entered into generalized linear mixed models, with mental or physical fatigue set as dependent variables. By comparison with the lockdown period, we observed that physical (but not mental) fatigue had still increased in the two groups. Anxiety level was also higher in all participants and remained positively associated with mental and physical fatigue in workers, but not in retirees. Workers reported a higher workload, which was negatively linked with both types of fatigue. The increase in fatigue is linked to daily tasks and psychological aspects being altered as a result of the health situation, and not by the lockdown per se. Moreover, associations between fatigue and daily life characteristics during the pandemic do not seem similar between workers and retirees.