Psychometric properties of the multidimensional fatigue inventory in Brazilian Hodgkin's lymphoma survivors.
BACKGROUND
Fatigue is the most common symptom among Hodgkin's lymphoma survivors.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI).


METHODS
The MFI was translated into Brazilian Portuguese using established forward-backward translation procedures, and the psychometric properties were evaluated in a sample of 200 Hodgkin's lymphoma survivors. The psychometric properties evaluated included internal consistency and construct validity. The MFI was administered along with the informed consent form.


RESULTS
The overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the 20 items was 0.84, ranging from 0.59 to 0.81 for each of the five scales. Correlations between items and scales ranged from 0.32 to 0.72. The factor analysis yielded a five-factor solution that explained 65% of the variance. The first factor merged the original "general fatigue" and "physical fatigue" scales, as has been previously reported. The second factor identified the original "mental fatigue" scale and the fifth factor identified the original "reduced activity" scale. Questions from the original "reduced motivation" scale were represented in both factors three and four.


CONCLUSIONS
The Brazilian version of the MFI showed satisfactory psychometric properties and can be considered a valid research tool for assessing cancer-related fatigue.
Hematology and Pathology Services, University Hospital, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. renata.lyrio@ldbtrust.com.br
Renata Lyrio R
RL
Baptista
Irene
I
Biasoli
Adriana
A
Scheliga
Andrea
A
Soares
Eloa
E
Brabo
José Carlos
JC
Morais
Guilherme Loureiro
GL
Werneck
Nelson
N
Spector
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult