Psychometric Properties of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20), Derived From Seven Samples

Andreas Hinz; Christian Benzing; Elmar Brähler; Markus Zenger; Philipp Y Herzberg; Carolyn Finck; Bjarne Schmalbach; Katja Petrowski

doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2019.12.005

Psychometric Properties of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20), Derived From Seven Samples

J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 Mar;59(3):717-723. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2019.12.005. Epub 2019 Dec 16.

Authors

Andreas Hinz¹, Christian Benzing², Elmar Brähler³, Markus Zenger⁴, Philipp Y Herzberg⁵, Carolyn Finck⁶, Bjarne Schmalbach⁷, Katja Petrowski⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: andreas.hinz@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.
² Department of Surgery, Campus Charité-Mitte, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
³ Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
⁴ Faculty of Applied Human Studies, University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg and Stendal, Stendal, Germany; Integrated Research and Treatment Center Adiposity Diseases, Leipzig University Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
⁵ Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Helmut Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
⁷ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
⁸ Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany.

PMID: 31837450
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2019.12.005

Abstract

Context: Fatigue is a frequent symptom in patients suffering from chronic diseases. The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) is often used to measure fatigue. The aim of this article was to test the scale structure of the questionnaire.

Methods: The MFI-20 data were obtained from seven samples, including general population samples and samples of patients with different diseases (N between 122 and 1993). Five confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models were tested for each sample.

Results: The scale structure postulated by the original test authors could not be confirmed by the CFAs. The inclusion of a method factor which considers the positive versus the negative orientation of the items yielded a better model fit. Cronbach's alpha was acceptable for most of the samples and scales: the total score of the MFI-20 reached alpha coefficients above 0.89. A short form of the MFI-20 which is restricted to the 10 positively oriented items (MFI-10) showed relatively good CFA indices.

Conclusion: The factorial validity of the MFI-20 is insufficient, an issue which is due, at least in part, to the inclusion of positively and negatively oriented items. Nevertheless, we recommend maintaining the scale structure of the MFI-20 and not searching for alternative structures.

Keywords: Fatigue; psychometrics; reliability; wording effect.

MeSH terms

Fatigue / diagnosis
Humans
Neoplasms*
Psychometrics
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires