The mystery of leisure sickness: a qualitative approach to its operationalization

ABSTRACT Leisure sickness, a cover story of parascientific journals, lacks a current distinguishing. Therefore, 15 European participants who experienced health complaints during time off work took part in semi-structured online interviews, which were evaluated via focused interview analysis. The interview focused on the type, duration, timing and intensity of complaints during time off. Respiratory tract complaints were the most frequent, followed by headaches and a general feeling of being unwell. Ear problems were also reported, unlike in previous reports. Problems seem to occur on the second, and especially the third, day of the holiday, with the intensity varying over around 3 days, and the symptoms usually lasting 2–3 days. We operationalize facets of leisure sickness including the number (at least 2 from a list of 10), timing (during the first 3 days of holiday), duration (maximum of 3 days) and intensity (2–4 days) of symptoms, to guide future research.