Chronic Viral Diseases Branch, National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne and Enteric Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mail Stop A-15, 1600 Clifton Rd, NE, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Popul Health Metr. 2009 Dec 15;7:18. doi: 10.1186/1478-7954-7-18.
The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) was developed in 1995. Since then, it has been widely used in cancer research and cancer-related illnesses but has never been validated in fatiguing illnesses or in a large US population-selected sample. In this study, we sought to examine the reliability and validity of the MFI-20 in the population of the state of Georgia, USA. Further, we assessed whether the MFI-20 could serve as a complementary diagnostic tool in chronically fatigued and unwell populations.
The data derive from a cross-sectional population-based study investigating the prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in Georgia. The study sample was comprised of three diagnostic groups: CFS-like (292), chronically unwell (269), and well (222). Participants completed the MFI-20 along with several other measures of psychosocial functioning, including the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form-36 (SF-36), the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). We assessed the five MFI-20 subscales using several criteria: inter-item correlations, corrected item-total correlations, internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficients), construct validity, discriminant (known-group) validity, floor/ceiling effects, and convergent validity through correlations with the SF-36, SDS, and STAI instruments.
Averaged inter-item correlations ranged from 0.38 to 0.61, indicating no item redundancy. Corrected item-total correlations for all MFI-20 subscales were greater than 0.30, and Cronbach's alpha coefficients achieved an acceptable level of 0.70. No significant floor/ceiling effect was observed. Factor analysis demonstrated factorial complexity. The MFI-20 also distinguished clearly between three diagnostic groups on all subscales. Furthermore, correlations with depression (SDS), anxiety (STAI), and functional impairment (SF-36) demonstrated strong convergent validity.
This study provides support for the MFI-20 as a valuable tool when used in chronically unwell and well populations. It also suggests that the MFI-20 could serve as a complementary diagnostic tool in fatiguing illnesses, such as CFS.
多维疲劳量表（MFI-20）于 1995 年开发。自那时以来，它已被广泛用于癌症研究和与癌症相关的疾病，但从未在疲劳疾病或美国大型人群样本中进行验证。在这项研究中，我们旨在检验 MFI-20 在佐治亚州人群中的可靠性和有效性。此外，我们评估了 MFI-20 是否可以作为慢性疲劳和不适人群的补充诊断工具。
数据来自一项横断面人群基础研究，调查佐治亚州慢性疲劳综合征（CFS）的患病率。研究样本由三个诊断组组成：CFS 样（292 例）、慢性不适（269 例）和健康（222 例）。参与者完成了 MFI-20 以及其他几个心理社会功能测量，包括医疗结果调查短表 36（SF-36）、Zung 自评抑郁量表（SDS）和斯皮尔伯格状态特质焦虑量表（STAI）。我们使用以下几个标准评估 MFI-20 的五个分量表：项目间相关性、校正后的项目总分相关性、内部一致性可靠性（克朗巴赫的α系数）、结构有效性、判别（已知组）有效性、地板/天花板效应以及与 SF-36、SDS 和 STAI 工具的相关性。
平均项目间相关性在 0.38 到 0.61 之间，表明没有项目冗余。所有 MFI-20 分量表的校正项目总分相关性均大于 0.30，克朗巴赫的α系数达到了可接受的 0.70。没有明显的地板/天花板效应。因子分析表明存在因子复杂性。MFI-20 在所有分量表上也能清晰地区分三个诊断组。此外，与抑郁（SDS）、焦虑（STAI）和功能障碍（SF-36）的相关性表明具有很强的相关性。
本研究支持 MFI-20 作为一种在慢性不适和健康人群中有用的工具。它还表明，MFI-20 可作为疲劳性疾病（如 CFS）的补充诊断工具。
