title: The Fatigue Associated with Depression Questionnaire (FAsD): responsiveness and responder definition.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Fatigue Associated with Depression Questionnaire (FAsD) was developed to assess fatigue and its impact among patients with depression. The purpose of this study was to examine the questionnaire's responsiveness to change and identify a responder definition for interpretation of treatment-related changes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected at baseline and at 6 weeks from patients with depression starting treatment with a new antidepressant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 96 participants, 55.2% were women, with a mean age of 43.4 years. The total score and both subscales demonstrated statistically significant change with moderate to large effect sizes (absolute values ≥ 0.76). FAsD change scores were significantly correlated with change on the Brief Fatigue Inventory (r ≥ 0.73; p < 0.001). FAsD mean change scores discriminated among patient subgroups differing by degree of improvement in patient- and clinician-reported fatigue and depression. Responder definition for the two subscales and total score (0.67, 0.57, 0.62) was estimated primarily based on mean change among patients who reported a small but important improvement in fatigue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The FAsD was responsive to change, and the responder definition may be used when interpreting treatment-related change. Results add to previous findings suggesting the FAsD is a useful measure of fatigue among patients with depression.
authors.affiliation: Outcomes Research, United BioSource Corporation, 7101 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA. louis.matza@unitedbiosource.com
authors.forename: Louis S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Matza
authors.forename: Kathleen W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Wyrwich
authors.forename: Glenn A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Lindsey T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Karen G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Malley
authors.forename: Dennis A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Revicki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D005221:Fatigue / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome