Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015:2015:643413.
doi: 10.1155/2015/643413. Epub 2015 Oct 19.

The Relationship of On-Call Work with Fatigue, Work-Home Interference, and Perceived Performance Difficulties

Carla M Ziebertz  1 , Madelon L M van Hooff  1 , Debby G J Beckers  1 , Wendela E Hooftman  2 , Michiel A J Kompier  1 , Sabine A E Geurts  1
Affiliations

The Relationship of On-Call Work with Fatigue, Work-Home Interference, and Perceived Performance Difficulties

Carla M Ziebertz et al. Biomed Res Int. 2015.

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined the relationship between on-call duty exposure (active and total on-call hours a month, number of calls per duty) and employees' experiences of being on-call (stress due to unpredictability, ability to relax during inactive on-call periods, restrictions during on-call duties, on-call work demands, and satisfaction with compensation for on-call duties) on the one hand and fatigue, strain-based and time-based work-home interference (WHI), and perceived on-call performance difficulties (PPD) on the other hand.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected among a large heterogeneous sample of Dutch employees (N = 5437). The final sample consisted of 157 on-call workers (23-69 years, 71% males). Data were analyzed by means of hierarchical regression analyses (controlling for age and job characteristics).

Results: Differences in on-call work exposure were not systematically related to fatigue, WHI, and PPD (all p's >0.50). The experience of being on-call explained a medium proportion of the variation in fatigue and strain-based WHI and a medium to large proportion of the variation in time-based WHI and PPD over and above the control variables.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that it is employees' experience of being on-call, especially the experience of stress due to the unpredictability, rather than the amount of exposure, that is related to fatigue, WHI, and perceived on-call performance difficulties.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Nicol A.-M., Botterill J. S. On-call work and health: a review. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source. 2004;3(1, article 15) doi: 10.1186/1476-069x-3-15. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schult M., Tobsch S. German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) SOEP Papers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research. Berlin, Germany: DIW Berlin; 2012. Leisure stress: when work is constantly calling.
    1. Arnedt J. T., Owens J., Crouch M., Stahl J., Carskadon M. A. Neurobehavioral performance of residents after heavy night call vs after alcohol ingestion. The Journal of the American Medical Association. 2005;294(9):1025–1033. doi: 10.1001/jama.294.9.1025. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Emmett B. M., Dovey S. M., Wheeler B. J. After-hours on-call: the effect on paediatricians' spouses and families. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. 2013;49(3):246–250. doi: 10.1111/jpc.12108. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Berger Y. Standby periods. Australian Safety News. 1999;63:3–10.

LinkOut - more resources