The association between resilience, perceived organizational support and fatigue among Chinese doctors: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Fatigue influences doctors' physical and mental health seriously, additionally, the topic has received wide attention recently. This study aimed to identify the association among resilience, perceived organizational support (POS) and fatigue, and to further explore whether POS could be a moderator in the association between resilience and fatigue in Chinese doctors.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Liaoning Province in China in 2018. Out of 1000 randomly selected doctors, 866 completed the Chalder Fatigue Scale, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Survey of Perceived Organizational Support, and the questions about demographic characteristics and job condition variables. The association among resilience, POS and resilience × POS interaction with physical and mental fatigue were examined by hierarchical multiple regression. Simple slope analysis was conducted to visualize the interaction.

Results: The association between resilience and physical fatigue was gradually increased in the low (1 standard deviation [SD] below the mean, β = -0.127, P< 0.05), mean (β = -0.292, P < 0.05) and high (1 SD above the mean, β = -0.457, P < 0.05) groups of POS. Additionally, the association was also different in the low (1 SD below the mean, β = -0.240, P < 0.01), mean (β = -0.357, P < 0.01) and high (1 SD above the mean, β = -0.474, P < 0.01) groups of POS.

Limitations: Due to the cross-sectional design, the study cannot draw any conclusion of causal relationships among study variables.

Conclusions: POS could moderate the association among resilience, physical and mental fatigue. More interventions related to resilience and POS will be helpful to alleviate fatigue among Chinese doctors.

Keywords: Doctors; Fatigue; Moderating effect; Perceived organizational support; Resilience.