Reliability and Validity of Turkish Versions of the Child, Parent and Staff Cancer Fatigue Scales

Abstract

This study was designed to adapt the Turkish versions of scales to evaluate fatigue in children with cancerfrom the perspectives of the children, parents and staff. The objective of this study was to validate “Child FatigueScale-24 hours” (CFS-24 hours), “Parent Fatigue Scale-24 hours” (PFS-24 hours) and “Staff Fatigue Scale-24hours” (SFS-24 hours) for use in Turkish clinical research settings. Translation of the scales into Turkish andvalidity and reliability tests were performed. The validity of the translated scales was assessed with languagevalidity and content validity. The reliability of the translated scales was assessed with internal consistency. Thescales were evaluated by considering the following: calculation of the Cronbach alpha coefficient for parallel formreliability with 52 pediatric cancer patients, 86 parents and 43 nurses. The internal consistency was estimatedas 0.88 for the Child Fatigue Scale-24 hours, 0.77 for the Parent Fatigue Scale-24 hours, and 0.72 for the StaffFatigue Scale-24 hours (Cronbach’s α). The Turkish version of the Child Fatigue Scale -24 hours, the ParentFatigue Scale -24 hours and the Staff Fatigue Scale -24 hours were judged reliable and valid instruments toassess fatigue in children and showed good psychometric properties. These scales should assist in understandingto what extent initiatives can minimize or eliminate fatigue. Our scales are recommended for further studies anduse in pediatric oncology clinics as routine measurements and nursing initiatives should be planned accordingly.