Spotlight on Fatigue
If you’re feeling tired, you’re not alone, new CDC report says
Saman Shafiq
USA Today
If you’ve been feeling exhausted all the time, you’re not alone. About 71.5% of adults in the U.S. say they experienced fatigue on multiple days over the course of three months, according to a report released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Women and younger adults reported more frequent fatigue than men.
“Fatigue is one of the most frequently reported health concerns in primary care,” the report said, noting the condition is “generally defined as physical or mental tiredness or exhaustion that does not improve with additional sleep or rest.”
Side effects of fatigue
Those experiencing fatigue “are at higher risk of activity limitations and disability, including permanent work disability,” the report said. Despite it being “associated with both poorer health outcomes and a heightened risk of mortality,” it remains “an underexplored topic.”
“Fatigue is considered an aspect of functioning,” the report said. “People who experience fatigue often also report difficulties in other domains of functioning such as difficulty concentrating, mobility limitations, and psychosocial problems.”
Anxiety (69.6%), cognition difficulty (46.1%) and symptoms of depression (45.0%) were among the three most frequently co-occurring functioning difficulties reported by adults who experienced frequent fatigue, the report said. Additionally, those who suffered from frequent fatigue were more than three times as likely to have symptoms of depression and about twice as likely to report cognition difficulty or symptoms of anxiety.
Key findings
About 27,000 adults ages 18 and older participated in NCHS’s study in 2024, sharing details about their health and daily lives. The CDC survey didn’t look at underlying causes of frequent fatigue, and it is not known if the condition has improved or worsened from previous years.
Key findings in the report include:
- Nearly 3 in 4 adults felt “very tired or exhausted” at least some days over three months.
- About 1 in 6 adults experienced frequent fatigue, defined as feeling very tired or exhausted “most days” or “every day.”
- Frequent fatigue was highest among younger adults aged 18-34 at 19.5%, while adults ages 65 and older reported the lowest rate at 12.9%.
- Women were more likely than men to report frequent fatigue − 20% versus 13% − with more than half of women saying they felt fatigue “some days,” and 20% experienced it “most days or every day.”
- American Indian and Alaska Native adults had the highest rate of frequent fatigue (25.5%), followed by White adults (18%), Black adults (17.3%) and Hispanic adults (12.9%), with Asian adults having the lowest rate of frequent fatigue (9.1%).
- Adults living in the South (17.7%) and the Midwest (17.5%) were more likely to experience frequent fatigue than adults in the West (15.6%) or the Northeast (14.5%), results showed.
Managing fatigue
Fatigue, more often than not, needs more than just a good night’s sleep to resolve, according to the Mayo Clinic, which recommends the following home remedies and lifestyle adjustment to help reduce fatigue:
- Fix your sleep schedule: Most adults need at least seven hours of sleep at night. To get proper rest, avoid screens at least an hour before bed and sleep in a dark, cool room with a sleep mask or blackout curtains. Avoid overly sugary or spicy foods and alcohol before bed. It’s also helpful to keep a consistent sleeping schedule by waking and going to bed at the same time every day.
- Exercise: A regular exercise routine can help build muscle strength and endurance and reduce overall fatigue. Incorporate activities you enjoy into your daily schedule to get those muscles moving and release endorphins.
- Aromatherapy: Limited research has found that smelling essential oil such as lavender before bed can naturally boost melatonin, an important hormone for sleep. Other studies have found that aromatherapy can be a helpful treatment for insomnia, the Mayo Clinic said.
- Meditation: Emotional regulation through mindful breathing or visualization exercises can help soothe the nervous system and encourage meaningful rest.
However, if you experience consistent fatigue, Mayo Clinic’s fatigue specialist Dr. Chris Aakre advises visiting your doctor or healthcare team to “try to discover the root cause.”
Rising insurance costs hit health care workers hard
Hayat Norimine
KFF Health News
BOISE, Idaho — Joshua and Ashley Durham run a family medicine practice, and for the first time in their lives, they have no health insurance.
When the Durhams began their practice at the end of 2023 — he as a primary care physician and she as a pharmacist who handles the billing — the couple bought coverage for themselves and their two kids on the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
This year, they said their monthly premiums for a similar health plan rose several hundred dollars to almost $1,600.
They decided to pay out of pocket for their medical expenses instead, leaning on $50,000 they set aside in a health savings account over several years.
“It’s nerve-racking,” said Joshua Durham, 47. “It just takes, you know, one little accident, and then you got a big fat bill.”
The healthcare industry traditionally has more of its workforce on medical insurance than many other fields. Nationwide, 7% of all healthcare workers were uninsured in 2024, compared with 11% of all adults under 65, according to a KFF analysis of the most recent American Community Survey data. Doctors were especially unlikely to forgo health insurance, with just 2% uninsured.
Now, even healthcare workers feel the pinch as health insurance costs rise; employers expect costs to jump an additional 8.2% for 2027.
The Republican-led Congress also opted last year not to renew Affordable Care Act marketplace credits enacted during the COVID19 pandemic. While subsidies remain in place for people with low incomes, the pandemic-era credits helped reduce many consumers’ premium payments, especially those working in small businesses such as independent medical practices. Almost half of marketplace enrollees worked for small businesses or were self-employed in 2024; some of the most common occupations included chiropractic care and dentistry.
Jack Dillon, executive director of the Association for Independent Medicine, which represents 4,000 physician-led practices, said premium increases became untenable for small businesses, whether employers seek coverage through the marketplace or directly from insurers.
As health insurance continues to become less affordable, Dillon said, more healthcare employers may seek alternatives to their standard coverage, such as providing higher hourly wages or providing only minimal plans.
The number of people without insurance in the U.S. is expected to increase by about 15 million over 10 years because of the expiration of the expanded ACA subsidies and $1.1 trillion in estimated cuts resulting from President Donald Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Healthier people are the most likely to opt out of insurance. That leaves insurance covering a smaller pool of people who tend to be sicker and need more expensive care. So insurers raise prices to cover the remaining enrollees, which fuels even higher premium costs.
Samantha LeGault, a nurse practitioner at a health clinic in Boise, said her employer-offered plan’s premium payment rose from $700 to $1,500 a month this year to insure herself, her husband and four of their kids. LeGault has Crohn’s disease and two of their daughters also have medical conditions, so she said her family has no choice but to continue to pay for that health coverage.
She decided to skip dental insurance to save money, and she prioritizes dental visits for her children over herself.
The Durhams have three other employees in their practice. Two receive health insurance through their spouses, Ashley Durham said. The Durhams said they pay $420 monthly toward their physician assistant’s premiums.
As a primary care physician, Joshua Durham said he doesn’t need regular doctor visits, because he can diagnose and treat himself — and, if needed, the rest of his family, though he acknowledged that’s frowned upon. The American Medical Association’s code of ethics generally discourages doctors from treating themselves or relatives but makes exceptions for emergency situations or shortterm, minor problems. Ashley Durham said she’s filled prescriptions for her family.
Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist and professor emeritus at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said that as more people are “turning toward relatives because they can’t access or easily see a regular doctor,” it may make sense to revisit that aspect of the code of ethics.
Healthcare workers with less advanced medical certifications than the Durhams often don’t have the option of treating themselves or family members — or don’t have savings to fall back on for healthcare expenses.
The Durhams saw the effects of unaffordable healthcare on their patients. They said they try to lend some leeway to patients when they can — a luxury they have, operating their own practice.
Southwest Montana Health Care Directory
