| Name of the Instrument/Tool | Lee Fatigue Scale (LFS) |
| First Description |
Lee KA, Hicks G, Nino-Murcia G. Validity and reliability of a scale to assess fatigue. Psychiatry Res. 1991 Mar;36(3):291-8. doi: 10.1016/0165-1781(91)90027-m. PMID: 2062970. |
| Year | 1991 |
| Domains | |
| Concept of constructs | Fatigue |
| Population/Disease | Generic |
| Originally developed for | --- |
| Other rheumatic diseases where can be applied (only if validated) |
Osteoarthritis (OA) |
| Additional population with no rheumatic diseases |
Yes HIV, stroke |
| Language: Originally published in | Norwegian |
| Available in Language | English |
| REFERENCE IDENTIFICATION | |
| Author/s | Lee KA, Hicks G, Nino-Murcia G. |
| Title | Validity and reliability of a scale to assess fatigue. |
| Journal | Psychiatry Res. |
| Year | 1991 |
| Vol | 36 |
| Num | 3 |
| Pages | 291-8 |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Other references of interest | |
| Link | https://hqlo.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12955-020-0 … |
| Brief Description |
Bragstad LK, Lerdal A, Gay CL, Kirkevold M, Lee KA, Lindberg MF, Skogestad IJ, Hjelle EG, Sveen U, Kottorp A. Psychometric properties of a short version of Lee Fatigue Scale used as a generic PROM in persons with stroke or osteoarthritis: assessment using a Rasch analysis approach. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2020 Jun 5;18(1):168. |
| Link | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19111779/ |
| Brief Description |
The measurement of fatigue in chronic illness: a systematic review of unidimensional and multidimensional fatigue measures. |
| Link | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23054493/ |
| Brief Description |
Development of a short version of the Lee Visual Analogue Fatigue Scale in a sample of women with HIV/AIDS: a Rasch analysis application. |
| Instrument/Tool Translations References | |
| No other References. | |
| DEVELOPER CONTACT INFORMATION | |
| Correspondence to | K A Lee |
| Kathryn.Lee@ucsf.edu | |
| Address | Department of Family Health Care Nursing, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0606. |
| Website | --- |
| Available | --- |
| Links | --- |
| DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENT | |
| Type Of Measure | Questionnaire |
| Brief Description |
The original version of the Lee Fatigue Scale (LFS) has primarily been used among adults with cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Using Rasch analysis, the full version of the LFS (13 items) was reduced to a short version (5 items) with satisfactory validity and reliability, and this is the version that has been mainly used on MSK diseases. On it, 5 items from the original 13-item version were used. Two items of this 5-item LFS demonstrated higher than acceptable Mean Square statistics (#16 carry on a conversation and #17 close eyes), and two items demonstrated lower than acceptable Mean Square (#1 tired and #4 fatigued). These two items were initially excluded and the remaining three items (#1, #4, and #5) were re-analysed. In the second iteration, the three remaining items demonstrated an acceptable range for goodness-of-fit to the model. |
| Number of Items | 13 items; 5 items/ 3 items |
| Range | 0-30;0-50; 0-130 |
| Responses options/scale |
Yes - |
| Developed for | --- |
| PRACTICAL APPLICATION | |
| Method of administration | Self-administered |
| Recommendations to score |
All items are to be rated on a numeric rating scale from 0 to 10, responses are summed up. |
| Score Interpretation | Higher scores indicate higher fatigue severity. |
| Cut-off points | --- |
| Cut-off points applied to | --- |
| Smallest detectable change if described | --- |
| Smallest detectable change applied to | --- |
| Completion time by the patient | - minutes |
| Scoring time by the assessor | - minutes |
| Training to score | Not necessary |
| Strengths | Useful in clinical practice & research |
| Limitations | Not widely used, Floor effect |
| OTHER COMMENTS | |
| Other Comments |
The DIF analysis indicated that two of the misfitting items showed DIF in relation to disease group, but once those two items were removed, the 3-item scale revealed no systematic differences in relation to diagnosis across any of the three remaining LFS items. The separation index of the LFS scale also increased from 1.82 to 2.49 after deleting the two items demonstrating misfit, indicating the 3-item scale was able to distinguish three statistically distinct groups of fatigue. |