Development and Validation of the Fatigue Scale for Children with cancer

• Main Authors: Su-Chu Lee, 李淑珠
• Other Authors: Lai-Chu See
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2006
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/73745419408361487374

碩士 === 長庚大學 === 護理學研究所 === 94 === This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. The purpose of this study is to develop Fatigue Scale for Children with Cancer ( FSCC ) and Fatigue Scale for Adolescent with Cancer ( FSAC ) and to establish their reliability and validity. On the basis of literature review, the findings from qualitative study and experts’ suggestions, the items of FSCC and FSAC were developed. FSCC and FSAC were self-report tools and designed for 7-18 children and adolescent with cancer respectively. FSCC included physical fatigue dimension ( 6 items ) and psychological fatigue dimension ( 4 items ). FSAC included physical fatigue dimension ( 6 items ) and psychological fatigue dimension ( 5 items ). In order to determine adequacy of the items within a subscale, content validity index and item analysis were used. The overall content validity index showed satisfactory results ( α=.82~1.0、α=.86-1.0 ). In order to examine the reliability and validity, the sample included 66 children and 46 adolescents with cancer and their caregivers. This study demonstrated that each subscales had good internal consistency coefficient for FSCC ( Cronbach’s α=.74-.81 ), and for FSAC ( Cronbach’s α=.84-.87 ). In the aspect of convergent validity, the dimension of physical fatigue of FSCC and FSAC was significantly correlated with acute vomiting, severity of physical symptoms, physical functions in the quality of life, and symptoms related to disease/treatments. However, there was no significant correlation between physical fatigue and play performance. As far as the convergent validity is concerned, the dimension of psychological fatigue of FSCC and FSAC had been demonstrated significant correlation between acute nausea and psychological function in the quality of life. For criterion-related validity, the dimensions of physical and psychological fatigue of FSCC and FSAC were significantly correlated with general fatigue, and sleep/rest fatigue. At the same time, clinical validity of fatigue is validated between children and adolescents who are under chemotherapy or have finished the treatments. The FSCC and FSAC are developed from the perspectives of the patients themselves, their caregivers, and medical personnel and specifically designed to assess fatigue for Taiwanese childhood cancer patients. The findings from this study could be a reference of medical treatment and increase nursing care quality to the childhood cancer patients.