Measuring fatigue in clinical and community settings

Abstract 

Objective

The Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFQ) is a widely used instrument to assess fatigue in both clinical and nonclinical settings. Psychometric properties of the scale and discriminative abilities were examined.

Methods

A total of 361 patients with CFS and 1615 individuals in the community were assessed with the CFQ. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore the structure of the scale. Receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to investigate the discriminative properties.

Results

Two components, physical and mental fatigue, were identified in the CFS patient group and in the general population samples. Area under the curve for ROC was .91. The fatigue scale effectively discriminates, at high scores, between CFS patients and the general population.

Conclusion

Physical and mental fatigue are clearly separable components of fatigue. The CFQ can discriminate reliably between clinical and nonclinical conditions.

Keywords: CFS, Chalder fatigue scale, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Fatigue, ROC