Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1082575 Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 2010 7 Pages PDF
Abstract

ObjectiveCancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a distressing, persistent, subjective sense of tiredness or exhaustion that occurs in 70–100% of cancer patients. The purpose of this review was to provide an overview of the quality of research performed on existing CRF self-report questionnaires and compare their reported psychometric properties and user-friendliness.MethodsDatabase searches of CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Scopus, PEDro, and PsycINFO were undertaken to find published scales. Standardized criteria were used to assess quality and user-friendliness.ResultsThirty-five articles were included that described 18 questionnaires—seven one-dimensional questionnaires and 11 multidimensional questionnaires. The mean item count was 20.8 (range: 3–83). The mean overall score of the one-dimensional questionnaires was 10.4 of a maximum of 18 points (range: 7.6–14.3). The mean overall score of the multidimensional questionnaires was 9.4 of a maximum of 18 points (range: 4.3–14.4).ConclusionRecommendations were made for the selection of a scale. We argue in favor of repeatedly reassessing psychometric properties of even established questionnaires to ensure they comply with evermore increasing stringent quality criteria.

Related Topics
Health Sciences Medicine and Dentistry Public Health and Health Policy
Authors
, , ,