title: Assessment of clinical relevant fatigue level in cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fatigue is highly prevalent in cancer and greatly inferences with daily life. The goal of this study was to identify the most informative score in the Brief Fatigue Inventory and to define cut points for "mild," "moderate," and "severe" fatigue based on their relevance to quality of life (QOL).
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed cancer patients at five hospitals in Korea with self-administrated questionnaires. The patients were older than 18 years, have a histological diagnosis of malignancy, gave informed consent to participate, and were able to understand the questionnaires. We analyzed 150 cancer patients who reported fatigue.
  
  
  RESULTS
  "Usual fatigue" was a sensitive and reliable indicator of fatigue severity and was defined as mild (1-3), moderate (4-7), or severe (8-10) because it had the strongest correlation with the functional interference, symptoms, depression, and QOL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These cutpoints might be useful in clinical evaluation of fatigue in cancer. Our findings suggest a simple technique for the rapid screening of fatigue and for evaluating its impact on the symptoms and daily functioning of cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for National Cancer Control and Evaluation, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon Jung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Jung Suk
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chang Geol
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Won Sup
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Keun Seok
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Soo-Mee
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Xin Shelley
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tito R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.forename: Charles S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Cleeland
authors.forename: Young Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Yun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires