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

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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 ≥18 years; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG] performance status ≤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 ≥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.

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Conflict of interest statement

Annalisa Giacalone, corresponding author, on behalf of all co-authors, declares not to have any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal, or other relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence our work, including employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations and grants, and any other funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Medical Oncology A, National Cancer Institute, via Franco Gallini 2, 33081, Aviano (PN), Italy

    Annalisa Giacalone, Ivana Sartor & Umberto Tirelli

  2. Unit of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Cancer Institute, via Franco Gallini 2, 33081, Aviano (PN), Italy

    Jerry Polesel, Angela De Paoli & Renato Talamini

  3. Division of Medical Oncology C, National Cancer Institute, via Franco Gallini 2, 33081, Aviano (PN), Italy

    Anna Maria Colussi

Authors
  1. Annalisa Giacalone
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  2. Jerry Polesel
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  3. Angela De Paoli
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  4. Anna Maria Colussi
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  5. Ivana Sartor
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  6. Renato Talamini
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  7. Umberto Tirelli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Annalisa Giacalone.

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Giacalone, A., Polesel, J., De Paoli, A. et al. Assessing cancer-related fatigue: the psychometric properties of the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale in Italian cancer inpatients. Support Care Cancer 18, 1191–1197 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0741-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0741-0

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