Development and Validation of the Cancer Fatigue Scale: A Brief, Three-Dimensional, Self-Rating Scale for Assessment of Fatigue in Cancer Patients

• Published in: Journal of pain and symptom management Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 5 - 14
• Main Authors: Okuyama, Toru, Akechi, Tatsuo, Kugaya, Akira, Okamura, Hitoshi, Shima, Yasuo, Maruguchi, Misae, Hosaka, Takashi, Uchitomi, Yosuke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 2000; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; assessment; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Evaluation Studies as Topic; fatigue; Fatigue - etiology; Fatigue - physiopathology; Female; Humans; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous. Technology; Neoplasms - complications; Pathology. Cytology. Biochemistry. Spectrometry. Miscellaneous investigative techniques; scale; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; symptom management; validation; assessment; symptom management; scale; fatigue; validation; Cancer; Human; Fatigue; Malignant tumor; Evaluation scale
• ISSN: 0885-3924; 1873-6513
• DOI: 10.1016/S0885-3924(99)00138-4

We herein describe the development and validation of the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS) for assessment of fatigue in cancer patients. We designed this scale specifically to reflect the nature of fatigue experienced by cancer patients, by using factor analysis; the CFS is a 15-item scale composed of 3 subscales (physical, affective, and cognitive subscales). Three hundred seven cancer patients participated in the validation phase. Construct validity, confirmed by repeating factor analysis, was good. Convergent validity, confirmed by a correlation between CFS and a visual analogue scale for fatigue, was also shown to be good ( r = 0.67, P < 0.001). The CFS had good stability (average test–retest reliability r = 0.69, P < 0.001) and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient for all 15 items = 0.88). The present study indicates that the CFS is a brief, valid, and feasible measure of fatigue for use with cancer patients.