Paediatric short fatigue questionnaire, a 4-item fatigue questionnaire for children

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether a paediatric Short Fatigue Questionnaire (pSFQ) assesses a valid construct for subjective fatigue, to assess its psychometric properties and provide a cut-off score for severe fatigue in children. Methods: The pSFQ consists of 4 items from the Checklist Individual Strength-8 (CIS-8). Data of previous studies using the CIS-8 were used to assess the pSFQ in healthy children (n = 316), children with chronic fatigue syndrome (n = 173), and children with a chronic disease (n = 442). All children were 12–18 years old. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed, followed by Cronbach alpha's to investigate internal consistency, and Spearman's correlations to assess construct validity. With ROC analysis, we determined a cut-off score for severe fatigue and provide normative data on the pSFQ for children with and without a chronic disease. Results: CFA confirmed a one-factor model in the pSFQ representing subjective fatigue. Cronbach's alpha ranged from good to excellent (0.84–0.94), as did construct validity (−0.76 and − 0.87 for correlation with two other fatigue measurements). ROC analysis delivered a cut-off score of ≥21, with a sensitivity of 93.9% and specificity of 96.2% for severe fatigue. Normative data for children with and without a chronic disease showed similar patterns compared to other fatigue questionnaires. Conclusion: The pSFQ is a practical and reliable screening instrument for severe fatigue in children with and without a chronic disease, and effectively reduces the questionnaire length with 50% compared to the conventional CIS-8.