Assessing cancer-related fatigue: the psychometric properties of the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale in Italian cancer inpatients

Abstract

Goals of work: Fatigue is the most distressing untreated symptom for many cancer patients, and its measurement is of great topical interest. The aim of the present study was to assess psychometric properties of Revised Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS-r) in Italian cancer patients.

Patients and methods: From January to June 2007, 115 histologically confirmed cancer inpatients (age >or=18 years; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG] performance status <or=2), who were undergoing treatments, completed the Italian PFS-r and the Profile Of Mood States (POMS) Fatigue and Vigor subscales. Major psychometric properties were investigated.

Main results: The construct validity of the Italian PFS-r was appropriate, with high corrected item-subscale correlations (Pearson r >or=0.97) for all subscales. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three dimensions instead of four in the US questionnaire; 68.2% of the common variance was explained. Internal consistency was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha >0.80) as was the test-retest reliability. Good correlations between PFS-r subscale and POMS subscales confirmed criterion validity.

Conclusions: The psychometric properties of the Italian version of PFS-r, as evaluated in cancer patients ongoing chemotherapy, were satisfactory. We suggest the possible implementation of the Italian PFS-r in the assessment of fatigue particularly when it has been more fully validated on a wider range of cancer patients.