[Assessment of a brief fatigue inventory in patients with hematologic malignancies].
BACKGROUND
Fatigue is one of the most common and distressing symptoms experienced by cancer patients.


OBJECTIVE
To validate the Brief Fatigue Inventory in people treated for hematological neoplasms.


METHODS
In a cross-sectional study, the Brief Fatigue Inventory was answered by 122 patients aged 40 ± 14 years (50% women) treated for hematological neoplasms at an intensive hematological unit of a public hospital between July 2010 and July 2013. Socio-demographic and clinical parameters were obtained from their clinical records.


RESULTS
Fatigue was present in nearly all patients (99.2%) in minor (50%), moderate (36.9%) or severe (12.3%) levels. The average fatigue score was 4.5 ± 1.9). The Brief Fatigue Inventory had a good internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha = 0.973) and proved to be one-dimensional (84.3% of the explained variance). Women reported that fatigue interfered more with enjoy-ment of life than men (p = 0.036).


CONCLUSIONS
The Brief Fatigue Inventory is a reliable instrument that can be used in clinical practice. It allows a quick assessment of the level of fatigue. People treated for hematologic cancer have a high prevalence of fatigue.
Unidad de Hematología Intensiva y trasplante de progenitores hematopoyéticos, Hospital del Salvador, Servicio de Salud Metropolitano Oriente, Santiago, Chile.
Luz Alejandra
LA
Lorca
Escuela de Kinesiología, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile.
Cinara
C
Sacomori
Unidad de Hematología Intensiva y trasplante de progenitores hematopoyéticos, Hospital del Salvador, Servicio de Salud Metropolitano Oriente, Santiago, Chile.
Bárbara
B
Puga
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D055815:Young Adult