Reliability and validity of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) and the Rhoten Fatigue Scale among rural cancer outpatients

Cancer patients typically experience fatigue while undergoing treatment for their disease. This study was an effort to identify a reliable and economical measure of fatigue. In particular, scores on the five subscales of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) were analyzed for internal consistency and then correlated with scores on the Rhoten Fatigue Inventory to establish a measure of validity. Moderate-to-high Cronbach alphas coefficients were established for the General Fatigue subscale of the MFI-20 using a sample of 97 rural oncology outpatients (1). Partial associations with the Rhoten Fatigue Scale lend evidence to the validity of the MFI-20 measures.