Ghana's older population is growing fast, putting more pressure on families and on primary health care. A new analysis of Ghana Statistical Service household survey data points to a problem that is often missed in routine check-ups: extreme fatigue, a tiredness that does not go away with rest.
Among 4,838 adults aged 50 and over interviewed in the 2023 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey, 824 people, or 17%, said they had suffered extreme fatigue in the previous two weeks. That is about one in six.
Illness made the biggest difference. Of those who reported an illness or injury, 44.4% had extreme fatigue, compared with 13.6% of those who did not. After other factors were taken into account, people reporting illness had about five times the odds of extreme fatigue.
Where people live and how they work also mattered. Extreme fatigue was reported by 19.6% of rural respondents against 14.4% in towns and cities, and by 19.0% of people in manual and basic labour jobs against 12.9% in administrative and service work. Older adults who had difficulty walking, washing, dressing or communicating were also more likely to report it. The highest share was in the middle belt, which includes Ashanti, Eastern, Bono and Oti, at 24.0%. The researchers say the reason for this regional pattern is unclear.
Age, sex, education and health insurance cover showed no clear link.
For Ghana, the findings suggest fatigue checks should be routine in care for older people living with illness, and that many still doing hard physical work in later life, often in rural areas, need support to stay active and independent.
Research Scope
This article is based on a peer-reviewed journal article published in Discover Public Health in 2026 and held in the University of Ghana's UGSpace repository. It analyses a sample of 4,838 adults aged 50 and over from the Ghana Statistical Service's 2023 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey, a national household survey. The researchers did not apply survey weights, so the 17% figure describes the people analysed rather than an official national rate. Fatigue and illness were self-reported, the study is a one-time snapshot that cannot show cause and effect, and the percentages by group were calculated by StatsGH from the paper's tables. It is a research signal, not a full national survey.