Translation and initial validation of Chinese (Cantonese) version of Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS-C) in people with stroke.

PURPOSE

To translate and culturally adapt the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) to Chinese version, and to psychometrically test it in stroke population.

METHODS

This study consisted of 2 phases. In phase one, we translated and culturally adopted the original English version of MFIS into Chinese (Cantonese) (MFIS-C). In phase two, the MFIS was psychometrically tested using a cohort of community-dwelling people with stroke (n = 101) and healthy control (n = 50). Among the stroke participants, 52 of them were reassessed after a 1-week interval.

RESULTS

The MFIS-C demonstrated satisfactory content validity and good to excellent internal consistency. The overall MFIS-C and its subscales have good test-retest reliability. The MDC were 14.86, 7.49, and 9.70 for the overall MFIS-C physical, cognitive and psychosocial subscales, respectively. The overall MFIS-C and its 2 subscales have significant weak to moderate negative correlations with the Community Integration Measure and the 12-item Short Form Health Survey Version 2. Our findings revealed that the people with chronic stroke living in Hong Kong were reported to have high level of fatigue.

CONCLUSION

The MFIS-C is a reliable and valid measure for assessing the level of fatigue in people with stroke.