Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40877825›Full record

ArticleBMC cancer2025

Validation of the cancer fatigue scale (CFS) in a UK population.

C Robinson, G Feder, A L Huntley, J Ramsay, D Varsani, D Gangahar, M Kröz

Abstract readValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

C RobinsonCentre for Evaluation and Methods, Pragmatic Clinical Trials Unit, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
G FederCentre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. gene.feder@bristol.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7890-3926
A L HuntleyCentre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
J RamsayCentre for Evaluation and Methods, Pragmatic Clinical Trials Unit, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
D VarsaniCentre for Evaluation and Methods, Pragmatic Clinical Trials Unit, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
D GangaharCentre for Evaluation and Methods, Pragmatic Clinical Trials Unit, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
M KrözResearch Department, Klinik Arlesheim, Arlesheim, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCancer-related fatigue is one of the most common symptoms in patients with cancer. Fatigue reduces health-related quality of life. The Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS) is a brief instrument that captures the multidimensional nature of fatigue with robust validity. The original scale was developed/validated with Japanese cancer patients. It was our aim to report the psychometric properties of an English translation of the CFS.

methodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted between February-October 2008 in London, UK. Three groups were recruited: cancer patients (index group), diabetic patients (chronic disease control group), and a healthy control group. All participants completed a questionnaire on recruitment and a subset were retested at 2-8 weeks. Reliability was assessed with analysis of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), homogeneity (item-total correlations) and test-retest reliability. Construct validity was assessed with inter-subscale correlations. To assess convergent validity, the correlations between the CFS and FNS, EORTC - QLQ C30, and HADS were examined with Spearman Rank correlation coefficients. The discriminant validity was determined by the known group method.

results160 participants were recruited: 60 cancer and 50 diabetes patients, and 50 healthy patients. Cronbach's alphas for the total scale and all three subscales (range 0.83,0.94) were all above the 0.70 criterion suggested for group comparisons thus the CFS showed excellent internal consistency. Homogeneity measures all fulfilled the 0.20 criterion (range 0.53-0.84). Combining the three groups, all test-retest correlations for the CFS and its subscales were above 0.7. Physical and affective subscales showed 100% scaling success. Both scores and sub-scores for the CFS correlated positively (p < 0.001) with FNS and HADS depression and anxiety subscales. The CFS correlated positively (p < 0.001) with all but one item of the EORTC-QLQ C30.

conclusionsThis evaluation of the measurement properties of the CFS-English shows that it is a reliable and valid tool for assessing key dimensions of cancer-related fatigue.

Indexed as

FatigueNeoplasmsAdultAgedCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPsychometricsQuality of LifeReproducibility of ResultsSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited Kingdom

Identifiers

PMID40877825
PMCPMC12392604

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.