title: Measurement of fatigue in cancer, stroke, and HIV using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Fatigue (FACIT-F) scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Given the importance of fatigue in cancer, stroke and HIV, we sought to assess the measurement properties of a single, well-described fatigue scale in these populations. We hypothesized that the psychometric properties of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Fatigue (FACIT-F) subscale would be favorable and that the scale could serve as a useful indicator of fatigue in these populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were eligible for the study if they were outpatients, aged 18 or older, with a diagnosis of cancer (n=297), stroke (n=51), or HIV/AIDS (n=51). All participants were able to understand and speak English. Patients answered study-related questions, including the FACIT-F using a touch-screen laptop, assisted by the research assistant as necessary. Clinical information was abstracted from patients' medical records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Item-level statistics on the FACIT-F were similar across the groups and internal consistency reliability was uniformly high (α>0.91). Correlations with performance status ratings were statistically significant across the groups (range r=-0.28 to -0.80). Fatigue scores were moderately to highly correlated with general quality of life (range r=0.66-0.80) in patients with cancer, stroke, and HIV. Divergent validity was supported in low correlations with variables not expected to correlate with fatigue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Originally developed to assess cancer-related fatigue, the FACIT-F has utility as a measure of fatigue in other populations, such as stroke and HIV. Ongoing research will soon allow for comparison of FACIT-F scores to those obtained using the fatigue measures from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®; www.nihpromis.org) initiative.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, United States. z-butt@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Zeeshan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Butt
authors.forename: Jin-Shei
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Allen W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Heinemann
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bill
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cella
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018450:Disease Progression; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D020521:Stroke / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires