Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 May 26;21(1):336.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-021-02275-x.

Validation of perceived physical fatigability using the simplified-Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale

Yixin Hu  1 , Hangming Zhang  2 , Weihao Xu  3 , Ming Zhao  4 , Juan Liu  5 , Linna Wu  6 , Lin Zou  3 , Jing Zuo  3 , Yunxia Liu  3 , Li Fan  3 , Woei-Nan Bair  7 , Yujia Susanna Qiao  8 , Nancy W Glynn  8
Affiliations

Validation of perceived physical fatigability using the simplified-Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale

Yixin Hu et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: The Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale (PFS) was developed to capture fatigue and demand in a single tool, filling a gap that no validated questionnaire existed to measure perceived fatigability. Since fatigability is a more sensitive measure of a person's susceptibility to fatigue, we validated the simplified-Chinese version of the PFS among Chinese community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban community in Beijing between November 2018 and July 2019. The PFS was translated into simplified-Chinese by the translation, retro-translation method. Internal consistency of the Physical subscale of the PFS was evaluated by Cronbach's alpha. Convergent validity and discriminant validity were evaluated against physical performance measures (i.e., Short Physical Performance Battery & Timed Up and Go Test) and daily living performance (i.e., Barthel Index & Instrumental activity of daily living).

Results: Our study included 457 participants, including 182 men (39.8%) and 275 women (60.2%). The age range of the included participants was 61-96 years (mean = 84.8 years, SD = 5.8 years). The simplified-Chinese version of PFS Physical scores showed strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.81). Higher PFS Physical scores were associated with worse physical performance, and daily living performance (|correlation coefficient| range: 0.36-0.56, p < .001). Age- and sex-adjusted PFS Physical scores had moderate to good overall discrimination for correctly classifying people by their physical performance and daily living performance (AUCs range 0.70-0.87, p < .001).

Conclusions: The PFS simplified-Chinese version is a valid instrument to assess perceived physical fatigability in Chinese-speaking older adults with good convergent validity. Thus, the PFS, with low cost and greater feasibility, is a desired tool to measure fatigability in large population studies.

Keywords: ADL; Fatigue; Older adults; Physical performance; Validity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The analysis sample selection process and age distribution of this study
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean PFS Physical scores by age strata and sex
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Nations DEU. World population prospects: the 2012 revision highlights and advance tables. New York: Department of Economic & Social Affairs; 2013.
    1. China NBoS. Communiqué on the main data of the sixth national census in 2010. http://www.gov.cn/guoqing/2012-04/20/content_2582698.htm. Accessed 4 Dec 2020.
    1. Schrack JA, Simonsick EM, Glynn NW. Fatigability: a prognostic Indicator of phenotypic aging. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2020;75(9):e63–e66. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glaa185. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Eldadah BA. Fatigue and fatigability in older adults. PM R. 2010;2(5):406–413. doi: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2010.03.022. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wasson E, Rosso AL, Santanasto AJ, Rosano C, Butters MA, Rejeski WJ, Boudreau RM, Aizenstein H, Gmelin T, Glynn NW, LIFE Study Group Neural correlates of perceived physical and mental fatigability in older adults: a pilot study. Exp Gerontol. 2019;115:139–147. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2018.12.003. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types