Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the psychometric properties of the Brief Fatigue
Inventory (BFI) in community-dwelling older adults. DESIGN: Cross-sectional
validation study. SETTING: Community based. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects (N=302) were
nondemented older adults (mean age, 76.44 y; 54% women). INTERVENTIONS: Not
applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: BFI total, severity, and interference
summation scores. RESULTS: A principal component analysis (PCA) yielded 2
factors, fatigue severity and interference, explaining 65.94% of the variance.
Both factors had good reliability, with Cronbach alpha values of .867 for fatigue
interference and .818 for fatigue severity. Higher fatigue scores were associated
with older age and worse physical and cognitive functions. CONCLUSIONS: Fatigue
is a common and debilitating symptom in the aging population. The current study
provides novel findings in validating and establishing a bidimensional factor
structure for the BFI in older adults. Severity and interference were
differentially related to important health outcomes; therefore, using these
subscales in addition to the total BFI score is recommended with older adults.
Because of its relatively short administration time and established psychometric
properties, the BFI can be successfully incorporated into longitudinal studies
and clinical trials.
CI - Copyright (c) 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS