Validation of the German version of the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS-D)

Abstract

Fatigue is a very important factor determining the quality of life in patients with malignancies. Cancer fatigue occurs with anaemia, during and after chemo- or radiotherapy and in patients with advanced tumours. The Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS) is a three-dimensional inventory with 15 items which was originally developed in Japan. We present the results of a validation study of the German version (CFS-D) of this instrument. The CFS-D was administered to 114 participants in a matched-pair study. In total, 57 (41 women) of the participants had malignant conditions, and 57 (41 women) were healthy volunteers. The Fatigue Numerical Scale was used to test convergence. The physical and performance status of the cancer patients was assessed by the Karnofsky-Index. Criteria for testing multidimensionality were the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the questionnaire on autonomic regulation. We generated a three-dimensional inventory of the CFS-D with the subscales physical fatigue/vitality, cognitive and affective fatigue. The reliability results for the complete scale: Cronbach's alpha: r(alpha) = 0.94, retest reliability: r(rt) = 0.82. The convergence criteria correlate between r = 0.44-0.65 (all P < 0.001). The CFS-D is highly reliable and has construct validity in relation to other measures.

Translation and validation of the Cancer-Related Fatigue Scale in Greek in a sample of patients with advanced prostate cancer

“…However, previous validation studies have been conducted in patients with various types of cancer and not specifically in prostate cancer. For example, in the study of Kröz et al 51 in a sample of 114 patients with cancer, only three patients were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 35 of the overall sample had been metastatic. In the study by Shun et al 53 with a sample of 243 patients, only 20 patients were with prostate cancer.…”

“…The German validation study of Kröz et al 51 on a sample of 114 patients with cancer, illustrated that the scale demonstrated a strong construct and content validity. Reliability results showed: Cronbach's a: r=0.94, retest reliability: rrt=0.82.…”

“…The current study, regardless of its many similarities with preceding validation studies, is not following the exact methods of the original study41 or the subsequent ones 51–53…”

Quality criteria and user-friendliness in self-reported questionnaires on cancer-related fatigue: a review

“…Eleven questionnaires were multidimensional: (1) Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS)[18,32,33]; (2) FACIT-F [29,34]; (3) Fatigue Symptom Inventory (FSI) [35,36]; (4) Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) [18,37e43]; (5) Multidimensional FSI (MFSI) [39]; (6) MSFI short form (MFSI-sf) [39,44]; (7) New Questionnaire to Assess Patient Perceptions of Cancer-Related Fatigue (NQAPPCRF) [45]; (8) Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS)[24,46,47]; (9) revised PFS (r-PFS)[24,46e48]; (10) Schwartz Cancer Fatigue Scale (SCFS)[18,49e51]; and (11) SCFS short form (SCFS-6)[41,49,50] …”

Multimodal Therapy Concept and Aerobic Training in Breast Cancer Patients With Chronic Cancer-Related Fatigue

“…The CFS was originally developed in Japan 26 and was then transculturally adapted and revalidated in Germany, yielding robust reliability (sum-scale: Cronbach's α: r α = .94, test-retest reliability r rt = .82), and validity. 37 The CFS-D classifies values ≥30 points as CRF, ≥23 to 29 points strongly as CRF cases, and ≤22 points as no cases. 4.…”