Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Nov;31(11):1601-7.
doi: 10.1093/sleep/31.11.1601.

Validation of the fatigue severity scale in a Swiss cohort

Philipp O Valko  1 , Claudio L Bassetti, Konrad E Bloch, Ulrike Held, Christian R Baumann
Affiliations

Validation of the fatigue severity scale in a Swiss cohort

Philipp O Valko et al. Sleep. 2008 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Fatigue is highly prevalent and has a negative impact on quality of life and performance in a variety of disorders. The 9-item Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) is one of the most commonly used self-report questionnaires to measure fatigue, but has only been validated in small sample-sized studies and in single disorders.

Objective: To validate the FSS in healthy subjects and different disorders known to be commonly associated with fatigue.

Material and methods: The FSS was administered to 454 healthy subjects, 188 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), 235 patients with recent ischemic stroke, and 429 patients with sleep-wake disorders including narcolepsy with cataplexy (n=22), restless legs syndrome (RLS) (n=79), sleep apnea (n=108), insomnia (n=62), parasomnia (n=25), excessive daytime sleepiness/hypersomnia of other origin (n=84, and other sleep-wake disorders (n=49.

Results: FSS scores were 4.66 +/- 1.64 (mean +/- SD) in patients with MS, 3.90 +/- 1.85 in patients after ischemic stroke, and 4.34 +/- 1.64 in patients with sleep-wake disorders. Compared to patients, values were significantly lower in healthy subjects (3.00 +/- 1.08, P < 0.01). Scores did not correlate with gender, age, or education. Item analysis showed an excellent internal consistency and reliability (Cronbach alpha = 0.93). Test-retest variability was assessed in 104 healthy subjects, showing stable values over time (2.94 +/- 0.90 vs. 2.90 +/- 0.74; P = 0.27).

Conclusions: This first validation of a fatigue scale in a large sample size demonstrates that the FSS is a simple and reliable instrument to assess and quantify fatigue for clinical and research purposes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The original English and the German version of the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Boxplots showing the median and interquartile range of FSS scores in healthy controls and patients with MS, previous ischemic stroke, and sleep-wake disorders.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Chaudhuri A. Fatigue in neurological disorders. Lancet. 2004;363:978–88. - PubMed
    1. Krupp LB, et al. Fatigue therapy in multiple sclerosis: results of a double-blind, randomized, parallel trial of amantadine, pemoline, and placebo. Neurology. 1995;45:1956–61. - PubMed
    1. Branas P, et al. Treatments for fatigue in multiple sclerosis: a rapid and systematic review. Health Technol Assess. 2000;4:1–61. - PubMed
    1. Zifko UA. Management of fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis. Drugs. 2004;64:1295–1304. - PubMed
    1. Lichstein KL. Fatigue and sleep disorders. Behav Res Ther. 1997;35:733–40. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms