Reliability and structural validity of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease

Abstract Introduction The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) is commonly used in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, most measurement properties have not been investigated in this population. The aim of this study was to investigate internal consistency, test-retest reliabili...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Parkinsonism & related disorders 2012-06, Vol.18 (5), p.532-536
Main Authors: Elbers, Roy G, van Wegen, Erwin E.H, Verhoef, John, Kwakkel, Gert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Assessment
Basal ganglia
Central nervous system diseases
Clinical trials
Fatigue
Fatigue - diagnosis
Fatigue - etiology
Fatigue - therapy
Female
Humans
Inventories
Male
Middle Aged
Motivation
Movement disorders
Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory
Neurodegenerative diseases
Neurology
Parkinson disease
Parkinson Disease - complications
Parkinson Disease - therapy
Parkinson's disease
Principal Component Analysis
Principal components analysis
Psychometrics
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Reproducibility of Results
Severity of Illness Index
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult
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Summary:Abstract Introduction The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) is commonly used in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, most measurement properties have not been investigated in this population. The aim of this study was to investigate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, measurement error, structural validity, and floor and ceiling effects of the MFI in PD. Methods Patients with PD ( N  = 153) completed the MFI at baseline and week 3 in a randomized clinical trial. Cronbach's α, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and the smallest detectable change (SDC) were calculated. Bland and Altman analysis was performed. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to explore structural validity. Floor and ceiling effects were investigated. Results Cronbach's α for the MFI-total and subscales ranged from 0.74 (reduced motivation (RM)) to 0.92 (MFI-total). ICC's ranged from 0.65 (mental fatigue (MF) to 0.81 (physical fatigue (PF)), SDC ranged from 4 points (PF and RM) to 15 points (MFI-total). Bland and Altman analysis showed no systematic differences between assessments. A floor effect was found for MF and ceiling effects for PF and reduced activity (RA). A four-factor model was extracted, combining general fatigue (GF) and PF as one factor. Conclusions The MFI is reliable and valid to assess fatigue in patients with PD. Clinicians and researchers interested in assessing specific aspects of fatigue should consider interpreting GF and PF as one subscale measuring physical aspects of fatigue. To establish whether the MFI can detect meaningful changes, studies on anchor-based responsiveness and the minimal important change are needed in PD.
ISSN:1353-8020
1873-5126
DOI:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2012.01.024