title: [Validation of a German Version of the Fatigue Impact Scale FIS-D].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Fatigue Impact Scale, FIS, is an internationally used instrument for the assessment of the impact of fatigue on Health-Related Quality of Life, HRQOL, also in patients with chronic liver diseases. In the German-speaking countries a validated instrument for measuring the impact of fatigue on patients with chronic liver diseases has not been available so far.
  
  
  METHODS
  The German linguistic adaptation of the FIS using a forward-backward procedure was administered to 204 patients (age 52,7 +/- 13,9 years; 47 % female, 53 % male, 45 % no cirrhosis, 22 % Child's A, 15 % Child's B and 17 % Child's C cirrhosis; 53 % with chronic viral hepatitis, 32 % with alcoholic and 15 % with other liver diseases) of a secondary care hospital. The following internationally accepted instruments were used for validation: The Short Form Health Survey, SF 36, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale German Version, HADS-D, and the Giessener Symptom Scale, GBB 24. Fifty patients in clinically stable situation filled out the FIS-D within 3 - 8 days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The acceptance of the FIS-D was high with 98 % answered items. The internal consistency of the three subscales was excellent (0.94 - 0.96), the test-retest reliability of the three subscales was good (0.72 - 0.83). The correlation coefficients with the validation instruments ranged between 0.49 and 0.80 (all p < 0 001). No differences in the FIS-D subscale scores were found in patients with and without cirrhosis and between the different Child-Pugh stages of liver cirrhosis. Patients treated with tranquilizer or antidepressants scored higher in the FIS-D than patients without this treatment (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The FIS-D is well accepted by patients in clinical routine care and has been shown to have good acceptance and reliability in the assessment of fatigue in chronic liver patients.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Klinik I, Klinikum Saarbrücken gGmbH. w.haeuser@klinikum-saarbruecken.de
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Häuser
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Almouhtasseb
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Muthny
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grandt
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005221:Fatigue / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile