Psychometric properties of the Dutch Fatigue Scale and the Dutch Exertion Fatigue Scale: Brazilian version

Fatigue is a human response in varied acute and chronic conditions and also in general population. This article reports a study conducted to estimate reliability and validity of the Dutch Fatigue Scale (DUFS) and the Dutch Exertion Fatigue Scale (DEFS) adapted for Brazilian use. Three-hundred heart failure patients and 64 healthier volunteers answered the DUFS and DEFS translated into Portuguese. Factorial analysis of DUFS and DEFS items yield a solution with one factor for each scale (explained variance = 53.9 percent), and good reliability estimates were obtained by the Chronbach's alpha (DUFS=.85 e DEFS=.92). In the patient sample, scales scores were positively associated with heart failure functional class (DUFS and DEFS p=.00), depression scores (DUFS r s=.63; p=.00 and DEFS r s=.55; p=.00), and sleep disturbance (DUFS and DEFS p=.00). Brazilian versions of DUFS and DEFS presented psychometric properties similar to those of the original ones.