Subjective Fatigue and Coping Types between Middle Aged Adults and Elders

중년기 성인과 노인의 피로와 대처유형

Fatigue is a ubiquitous symptom and is a part of many acute and chronic health conditions. This complex symptom is so prevalence in contemporary society that it motivates a large percentage of the health care-seeking behavior among late-middle aged adults and elders. The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of fatigue. to identify coping types of fatigue, and to explore factors affected fatigue between middle aged adults and elders who have no critical health problems. The results are as follows: 1. The elderly that manifested high level of fatigue revealed more fatigue than adults. 2. There are three coping types of fatigue. The three types were analyzed by Q-methodology. These three are action-evading, action-limited, and action-oriented. 3. The levels of fatigue manifested by the participants varied significantly according to age, vocation, education, present disease, and income. By identifying the nature of each of the coping types of fatigue, it is recommended to develop an effective nursing interventions for middle aged adults and elders.