Background: Fatigue is one of the most common and distressing symptoms experienced by cancer patients.
Aim: To validate the Brief Fatigue Inventory in people treated for hematological neoplasms.
Material and methods: In a cross-sectional study, the Brief Fatigue Inventory was answered by 122 patients aged 40 ± 14 years (50% women) treated for hematological neoplasms at an intensive hematological unit of a public hospital between July 2010 and July 2013. Socio-demographic and clinical parameters were obtained from their clinical records.
Results: Fatigue was present in nearly all patients (99.2%) in minor (50%), moderate (36.9%) or severe (12.3%) levels. The average fatigue score was 4.5 ± 1.9). The Brief Fatigue Inventory had a good internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha = 0.973) and proved to be one-dimensional (84.3% of the explained variance). Women reported that fatigue interfered more with enjoy-ment of life than men (p = 0.036).
Conclusions: The Brief Fatigue Inventory is a reliable instrument that can be used in clinical practice. It allows a quick assessment of the level of fatigue. People treated for hematologic cancer have a high prevalence of fatigue.