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Development and psychometric testing of a Chinese version of the Fatigue Scale-Children in Taiwan
Yi-Chien Chiang1, Pamela S Hinds, Chao-Hsing Yeh
1Department of Nursing, Chang Gung Institute of Technology, Tao-Yuen, Taiwan.
Insights
A new Chinese version of the Fatigue Scale-Children (FS-C-C) is reliable and valid for measuring cancer-related fatigue in Taiwanese children. This tool aids in assessing and managing fatigue in pediatric cancer patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Psychometric Instrument Development
- Cancer-Related Symptom Management
Background:
- Cancer-related fatigue is a prevalent and distressing symptom in pediatric oncology patients.
- Accurate measurement of fatigue is crucial for effective clinical care in Taiwan.
- Existing instruments may not adequately capture fatigue experiences in this population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and psychometrically evaluate a Chinese version of the Fatigue Scale-Children (FS-C-C).
- To establish the reliability and validity of the FS-C-C for use in Taiwanese pediatric cancer patients.
- To provide a culturally adapted and validated tool for fatigue assessment.
Main Methods:
- Translation and back-translation of the Fatigue Scale-Children (FS-C) into Chinese.
- Cross-sectional study involving 108 Taiwanese pediatric oncology patients (aged 7-12).
- Psychometric testing including internal consistency, content, construct, convergent, criterion-related, and known-group validity.
Main Results:
- The FS-C-C demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and moderately high content validity.
- Confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor model with acceptable fit.
- Convergent, concurrent, and predictive validity were supported through significant associations with other validated scales.
Conclusions:
- The developed FS-C-C is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring cancer-related fatigue intensity in Taiwanese children.
- The FS-C-C can inform clinical practice for assessing and managing childhood cancer-related fatigue.
- This validated instrument enhances the ability to address a key symptom in pediatric oncology care in Taiwan.
Aims:
The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Fatigue Scale-Children (FS-C-C).
Background:
Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most distressing and prevalent symptoms reported by paediatric oncology patients during and after their cancer treatment. A reliable and valid instrument to measure fatigue is essential to the successful clinical care of paediatric oncology patients in Taiwan who experience this troubling symptom.
Design And Methods:
A total of 108 paediatric oncology Taiwanese patients who were aged 7-12 years participated in this cross-sectional, instrumentation study. The FS-C was translated into Chinese by using an established translation/back-translation method. The psychometric testing of the FS-C-C included internal consistency, content validity, construct validity, convergent validity, criterion-related validity and known-group validity.
Results:
The FS-C-C achieved an acceptable internal consistency coefficient. Content validity was moderately high (content validity indices ranged from 83-100%). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor model as an acceptable model fit (the goodness-of-fit index and adjusted goodness-of-fit index both were greater than 0.9; normed fit index, 0.89; root-mean-square residual, 0.15). Although the results did not support the known-group hypothesis, the convergent validity, concurrent validity and predictive validity of the FS-C-C were supported by significant associations with the PedsQL Multidimensional Fatigue Scale, the Anxious/Depressed subscale of the Child Behaviour Checklist and the generic and disease-specific scores on the Quality of Life for Children with Cancer instrument, respectively.
Conclusion:
Our newly developed FS-C-C is a reliable and valid instrument for the measurement of cancer-related fatigue intensity in Taiwanese children.
Relevance To Clinical Practice:
The FS-C-C could provide useful information to guide clinical practice in assessing and managing cancer-related fatigue in childhood cancer patients in Taiwan.
