The higher prevalence of high NFR among women with a high educational level when compared with women with a low or intermediate educational level could largely be explained by the higher time pressure which was reported by highly educated women. Adjustment for time pressure resulted in a decrease of the OR from 1.44 to 1.21. In addition, average contractual working time was larger in women with a high educational level, and also occupation see more and emotional demands explained part

of the higher prevalence of high NFR among highly educated women. Better self-rated health and higher job autonomy in highly educated women, however, affected the OR in the opposite direction. Adjustment for these factors resulted in larger NFR differences between women with high and low or intermediate levels of education. Age comparison Among female employees with a high educational level, those aged 50–64 years

had 32% higher odds of reporting high NFR when compared with high educated women aged 15–49 years. The higher prevalence of high NFR in women aged 50–64 years when compared with younger women was fully explained by the differences in demographic, health, and work-related factors. PLX4032 purchase Adjustment for all these factors together resulted in a decrease of the OR from 1.32 to 0.94. The higher prevalence of high NFR among women aged 50–64 years when compared with younger women could largely be explained by the better self-reported health status of the younger women. This appears to be the most important factor explaining the difference in the prevalence of high NFR between highly educated women aged 50–64 years when

compared with those aged 15–49 years. Adjustment for self-reported health resulted in a decrease of the OR from 1.32 to 1.14. Adjustment for other factors resulted in smaller changes in the relationship between age and high NFR. Except for contractual working time and terms of employment, the adjusted Thalidomide relationships were smaller than the crude relationship. Discussion Our study showed a high prevalence of work-related fatigue in highly educated female employees. In particular, women aged 50–64 years reported the highest prevalence of fatigue (40.3%). This is in line with former findings (Van Veldhoven and Broersen 1999; Boelens 2007). In our study, work-related fatigue is clearly related to gender (women), education (highly educated women), and age (older highly educated women). Our second research question focused on factors explaining group differences in the prevalence of fatigue. Compared with highly educated men, highly educated women more often face adverse working conditions such as lower autonomy, higher emotional demands, and external workplace violence, which increase their odds of reporting work-related fatigue. At the same time, however, the fact that they work overtime less often and more often work part-time compared with their male counterparts decreases their odds of reporting high fatigue levels.