Measuring Fatigue in Parkinson's Disease: A Psychometric Study of Two Brief Generic Fatigue Questionnaires

Peter Hagell*, Arja Höglund, Jan Reimer, Brita Eriksson, Ingmari Knutsson, Håkan Widner, David Cella

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

86 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study evaluated and compared the measurement properties of the 13-item Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue Scale (FACIT-F) and the 9-item Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) in 118 consecutive Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, using traditional and Rasch measurement methodologies. Both questionnaires exhibited excellent data quality and reliability (coefficient alpha ≥ 0.9), and acceptable rating scale functionality, and both discriminated between fatigued and nonfatigued patients. Factor and Rasch analyses provided general support for unidimensionality of both FACIT-F and FSS, although they do not appear to measure identical aspects of fatigue. No signs of differential item functioning (DIF) were found for the FACIT-F, whereas potential age DIF was detected for two FSS items. These results support the measurement validity of both questionnaires in PD, although the FACIT-F displayed better measurement precision and modest psychometric advantages over the FSS. Availability of psychometrically sound fatigue measures that are applicable across disorders provides a sound basis for advancing the understanding of this common and distressing complaint.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)420-432
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume32
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2006

Keywords

  • Fatigue
  • Parkinson's disease
  • questionnaires
  • reliability
  • validity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Neurology
  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
  • Nursing(all)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Measuring Fatigue in Parkinson's Disease: A Psychometric Study of Two Brief Generic Fatigue Questionnaires'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this