Fatigue Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Fatigue, including details on chronic fatigue syndrome, exhaustion, causes, diagnosis.

Psychometric testing of three Chinese fatigue instruments in Taiwan.

Shun SC, Beck SL, Pett MA, Berry PH

College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. scshun600425@yahoo.com.tw

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties (reliabilities and validities) and ease of use of three translated fatigue instruments: Chinese versions of the Cancer Fatigue Scale, the Fatigue Symptom Inventory (FSI), and the Schwartz Cancer Fatigue Scale-revised. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 243 cancer outpatients at a chemotherapy treatment center in Taiwan. The results indicated that the three scales had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas for three total scales > 0.80) and were brief (less than 6 minutes to complete), valid (confirmed by convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity), and feasible measures (completion rates > 97%) of fatigue for use with Taiwanese cancer patients. However, 27% of cancer patients reported that the FSI was difficult for them to complete. Differences in factorial validity between each original scale and its Chinese version indicate a need for further testing in Taiwan.

Published 31 July 2006 in J Pain Symptom Manage, 32(2): 155-67.
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