title: Psychometric evaluation of a Chinese version of the Lee Fatigue Scale-Short Form in women during pregnancy and postpartum.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fatigue is among the most prevalent and distressing symptoms in pregnant and postpartum women. Estimating fatigue severity with a psychometrically sound instrument provides the most fundamental information for understanding women's fatigue experience and assessing the need for intervention to improve maternal and infant health outcomes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the 7-item Lee Fatigue Scale-Short Form (C-LFS-SF) in pregnant and postpartum women.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was composed of two phases: translation of the scale into Chinese and examination of content validity, and testing to establish the reliability and validity. A convenience sample of 124 women completed health-related questionnaires, kept a fatigue diary and wore a wrist actigraph for 7 days during the third trimester of pregnancy and within three months postpartum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The C-LFS-SF showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha≥.97) and stability over the 7 days at each time point (intraclass correlation coefficient>.87). Exploratory factor analysis showed that 88-94% of the total variance was explained by the one-factor fatigue model. Significant associations among the C-LFS-SF and actigraphic sleep quantity and quality variables supported adequate construct validity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The C-LFS-SF has satisfactory psychometric properties and is an easy and promising tool for assessing maternal fatigue during routine prenatal and postpartum care. This scale needs to be further tested in a more diverse population of pregnant and postpartum women, like women with high risk pregnancies or with medical conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: stsai@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Shao-Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: scshun@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Shiow-Ching
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Shun
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: laiyhwk@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yeur-Hur
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: yallee@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Ya-Ling
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address: slee29@gsu.edu.
authors.forename: Shih-Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005221:Fatigue; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011594:Psychometrics; D013624:Taiwan
keywords: Actigraphy; Fatigue; Postpartum; Pregnancy; Sleep; Women