Arturo Juárez García
Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos
Presenteeism refers to the physical presence of the worker at their workplace but functionally absent due to illness or a related medical condition. The concept of fatigue submits to the deterioration of the functional state of an individual in the workplace and thus must be considered as an indicator of presenteeism. The present study proposes a continuous scale to evaluate the construct of interest, called Fatigue-Energy Point Estimates Scale (Escala de Puntos Estimados de Fatiga-Energía), whose methodology of application requires the evaluation at the beginning and at the end of the working day; an estimated point (average) is obtained from the scale. In order to test its validity, the scale was answered by a sample N=245 manual workers in Mexico City. As concurrent criteria, several objective (simple visual, auditory and discriminatory time reaction tests; precision and speed of psychomotor performance test) and subjective indicators (Yoshitake’s fatigue scale and Maslach’s MBI-GS emotional exhaustion sub-scale) were used. The results showed that the proposed scale correlated significantly (p<.05) with all the selected validity criteria (“rs” between .11 and .42). The “estimated point” particularly stood out as a highly valid, potential and representative measure of the fatigue-energy state experienced by workers. As a result, it is proposed as a complementary scale in the measuring of job fatigue. Future studies with alternative criteria and methodology are suggested for the analysis of fatigue-energy as an indicator of presenteeism in accordance with a more dynamic and situational vision.
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