Publication date: Sep 22, 2025
Fatigue is a debilitating symptom common to many disorders and diseases (including COVID-19) with chronic fatigue affecting an estimated 10. 1% of adults. However, fatigue in the general population remains understudied, especially during periods of crisis or sustained societal stress. We aimed to identify psychological and biological factors of fatigue during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the general population and to examine whether early fatigue predicted later fatigue, stress, anxiety, and mood. In this ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study, 292 participants reported fatigue, stress, anxiety, and mood five times a day for two seven-day measurement periods (20,343 observations) during the two national lockdowns in Austria and Germany. Hair cortisol was obtained from 85 participants as a marker of long-term HPA activity. Fatigue was associated with younger age (b=-0. 27, P
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Austria | COVID-19 |
| Biopsychosoc | ecological momentary assessments |
| Germany | Fatigue |
| Pandemic | hair cortisol |
| hypocortisolism | |
| stress |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | Anxiety |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Hydrocortisone |
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 Pandemic |
| disease | IDO | symptom |