Measuring fatigue and other anemia-related symptoms with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) measurement system

Yellen, Suzanne B.; Cella, David; Webster, Kimberly; Blendowski, Carol; Kaplan, Edward H.

doi:10.1016/s0885-3924(96)00274-6

Cited by 1,638 publications

(1,312 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

1,261

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…An important strength of this study is the use of reliable, validated instruments to assess CRF23, 24 as well as the objective assessment of muscle mass34 in a relatively large group of patients with advanced cancer. Although the assessment of muscle mass at L3 level is well validated,35 muscle mass assessment at T4 level needs validation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The FACIT‐fatigue is a validated questionnaire focusing on physical fatigue and the functional consequences of fatigue. It has an excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.93–0.95) and good test–retest reliability ( r 0.72–0.90) 23, 24, 25. The 13 items are scored on a 4‐point Likert scale, resulting in a total score between 0 and 52 points, with lower scores indicating higher levels of CRF.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Muscle mass as a target to reduce fatigue in patients with advanced cancer

Neefjes

Hurk

Blauwhoff‐Buskermolen

et al. 2017

J cachexia sarcopenia muscle

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundCancer‐related fatigue (CRF) reduces quality of life and the activity level of patients with cancer. Cancer related fatigue can be reduced by exercise interventions that may concurrently increase muscle mass. We hypothesized that low muscle mass is directly related to higher CRF.MethodsA total of 233 patients with advanced cancer starting palliative chemotherapy for lung, colorectal, breast, or prostate cancer were studied. The skeletal muscle index (SMI) was calculated as the patient's muscle mass on level L3 or T4 of a computed tomography scan, adjusted for height. Fatigue was assessed with the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy‐fatigue questionnaire (cut‐off for fatigue <34). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to study the association between SMI and CRF adjusting for relevant confounders.ResultsIn this group of patients with advanced cancer, the median fatigue score was 36 (interquartile range 26–44). A higher SMI on level L3 was significantly associated with less CRF for men (B 0.447, P 0.004) but not for women (B − 0.401, P 0.090). No association between SMI on level T4 and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy‐fatigue score was found (n = 82).ConclusionsThe association between SMI and CRF may lead to the suggestion that male patients may be able to reduce fatigue by exercise interventions aiming at an increased muscle mass. In women with advanced cancer, CRF is more influenced by other causes, because it is not significantly related to muscle mass. To further reduce CRF in both men and women with cancer, multifactorial assessments need to be performed in order to develop effective treatment strategies.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Muscle mass as a target to reduce fatigue in patients with advanced cancer

Neefjes

Hurk

Blauwhoff‐Buskermolen

et al. 2017

J cachexia sarcopenia muscle

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This lowers the subjective sense of well-being and impairs other important aspects of patients' lives such as the ability to work, interact socially, and enjoy leisure activities (Yellen et al, 1997).…”

Section: Impact Of Anaemia On Quality Of Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

“…An objective correlation exists between haemoglobin values and QOL in patients with cancer (Cella, 1997;Yellen et al, 1997). Cella (1997) developed and tested derivations of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) measurement systems that were specifically designed to evaluate the impact of fatigue (FACT-F) or anaemia (FACT-An) on QOL in cancer patients.…”

Section: Impact Of Anaemia On Quality Of Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

Anaemia and its functional consequences in cancer patients: current challenges in management and prospects for improving therapy

Demetri

2001

Br J Cancer

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anaemia is a common occurrence in patients with cancer and contributes to the clinical symptomatology and reduced quality of life (QOL) seen in cancer patients. Many aspects of reduced QOL, including fatigue, are known to be associated with suboptimally low levels of haemoglobin. Even mild-to-moderate anaemia adversely affects patient-reported QOL parameters. Red blood cell transfusions are associated with many real and perceived risks, inconveniences, costs, and only temporary benefits. Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) is an effective therapy to increase haemoglobin values in over half of anaemic cancer patients receiving concurrent chemotherapy. These increased haemoglobin values are closely correlated with improvements in QOL. Despite these objectively defined benefits, less than 50% of anaemic patients undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapy receive rHuEPO, in contrast to patients with chronic renal failure on dialysis, where anaemia is universally and aggressively treated to more optimal haemoglobin values. However, there are several barriers that may limit more widespread use of rHuEPO. These include inconvenience associated with frequent dosing; failure of a large proportion (40 to 50%) of patients to respond; relatively slow time to response; absence of reliable early indicators of response; and current lack of rigorous pharmacoeconomic data demonstrating cost-effectiveness. Darbepoetin alfa is a novel erythropoiesis stimulating protein (NESP) that is biochemically distinct from rHuEPO, and which has been proven to stimulate red blood cell production. The molecule has a 3-fold longer half-life and increased biological activity that will allow less frequent dosing, facilitating improved management of the anaemia of cancer. With this new option for therapy, further avenues of investigation should lead to renewed interest in the clinical benefits of optimal haemoglobin levels for patients with cancer. © 2001 Cance Cancer Research Campaign

show abstract

“…Based on these criteria and a review of the literature, we undertook a validation of the 13-item Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy -Fatigue Scale (FACIT-F), which is part of the larger FACIT measurement system and currently is available in 46 languages (www.facit.org). The questionnaire was originally developed to assess anemia-associated fatigue (17), but has since been used and validated also in other patient groups, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and various forms of cancer, as well as in the general United States population (18)(19)(20). In addition, it has been thoroughly documented regarding its responsiveness and minimally important difference (MID) (19,21,22), and recent work (23) has also begun linking FACIT-F scores to levels of physical impairment and activity limitations, which has potential to further facilitate score interpretation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Hagell

Höglund

Reimer

et al. 2006

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study evaluated and compared the measurement properties of the 13-item FACITFatigue 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), acceptable rating scale functionality, and discriminated between fatigued and non-fatigued patients. Factor and Rasch analyses provided general support for unidimensionality of both the 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 2 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. Fatigue can be defined as an overwhelming sense of tiredness, lack of energy, and feeling of exhaustion (1) and is a common complaint in a range of medical conditions, including many neurological disorders (1-3). In a clinical context, fatigue is considered to be a multidimensional concept with physical, emotional, cognitive, and social aspects. This can pose a challenge to measurement. In Parkinson's disease (PD), fatigue has been reported in 40-65% of patients and although many consider it to be one of their most disabling symptoms, it often remains undetected in clinical practice (4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Its cause remains unclear. For example, while some reports suggest an association between fatigue and the underlying parkinsonism (5, 9), others do not (10, 11).One reason for such mixed results may relate to how fatigue has been assessed. Studies have tended to use fatigue scales from generic health status questionnaires or approaches not validated in [10][11][12]. Although generic health status questionnaires have been validated broadly, their subscales are brief and often lack sufficient detail for accurately measuring individuals. For example, the Energy subscale of the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP-EN) (13) has been found to be only a coarse measure of fatigue (14). Other employed instruments have been validated in other patient groups but remain untested in terms of their measurement properties in PD. This is a limitation because traditional psychometric properties are sample dependent. Thus their performance in specific applications is important to consider in the context of accumulated experience with an instrument (15). There is thus a need for fatigue measures with documented reliability and validity in specific patient populations, such as PD, that also allow for comparisons with other patient groups and healthy control populations (3).We therefore sought to identify and validate an availa...

show abstract

Measuring fatigue and other anemia-related symptoms with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) measurement system

Cited by 1,638 publications

References 15 publications

Muscle mass as a target to reduce fatigue in patients with advanced cancer

Muscle mass as a target to reduce fatigue in patients with advanced cancer

Anaemia and its functional consequences in cancer patients: current challenges in management and prospects for improving therapy

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

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About