Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Should symptoms be scaled for intensity, frequency, or both?

Chih-Hung Chang1, David Cella, Susan Clarke

  • 1Center on Outcomes, Research and Education (CORE), Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Evanston, Illinois, USA. chchang@northwestern.edu

Palliative & Supportive Care
|April 6, 2006
PubMed
Summary

This study found that intensity and frequency rating scales for fatigue are essentially equivalent. Frequency scaling may be preferable for broader fatigue continuum coverage, while intensity scaling offers more precision for highly fatigued patients.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Applying an intersectional framework to characterize chronic pain disparities one year following traumatic spinal cord injury.

The journal of pain·2026
Same author

Transitioning Towards Quality-of-Care Assessment in Orthotics and Prosthetics Practice.

Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation·2026
Same author

Knowledge of and adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans by individuals with chronic spinal cord injuries and disorders.

The journal of spinal cord medicine·2026
Same author

Development and content validity of a nutrition knowledge questionnaire for individuals living with spinal cord injuries and disorders.

Spinal cord·2026
Same author

Inpatient rehabilitation experiences and preparedness for discharge: Perspectives of people with spinal cord injuries, care partners, and rehabilitation clinicians.

Rehabilitation psychology·2026
Same author

Evaluating Psychometric Characteristics of the SCI-QOL Ability to Participate and Satisfaction With Social Roles and Activities.

Topics in spinal cord injury rehabilitation·2026

Area of Science:

  • Health Outcomes Research
  • Psychometrics
  • Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

  • Symptom self-report scales are crucial for assessing patient experiences.
  • Two common rating scales, Intensity and Frequency, are used to measure symptoms.
  • The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)-Fatigue scale is a widely used measure.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the comparability of 5-point Intensity and Frequency rating scales for fatigue.
  • To determine if both scales are necessary for accurate fatigue assessment.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized item response theory-based rating scale models (RSM) to analyze data from 161 patients with cancer, stroke, and HIV.
  • Calibrated data to examine intersection parameters (step thresholds) and item location parameters.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Assessed differential item functioning and the spread of step thresholds.

    • Main Results:

    • No significant mean raw score difference was found between Intensity and Frequency scales (37.2 vs. 36.4).
    • A high correlation (r = .86) indicated essential equivalence between the two scales.
    • Frequency scales demonstrated broader coverage of the fatigue continuum and reduced floor/ceiling effects.

    Conclusions:

    • Intensity and Frequency scaling methods yield largely equivalent fatigue estimates, suggesting assessing both is redundant.
    • Frequency scaling offers superior coverage of the fatigue continuum, better differentiating mild to moderate fatigue.
    • Intensity scaling provides slightly higher precision for patients with severe fatigue.