Recherche en soins infirmiers
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The need for a valid and reliable multi-dimensional instrument in French to enable nurses and clinicians to assess intensity and changes in cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and evaluate efficacy of intervention stratégies on patient outcome, prompted us to translate the Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS) and assess its psychometric properties in a French speaking population. The revised PFS is a 22 item self-report instrument with four sub-scales: behavioural/severity, affective, sensory and cognitive/mood. The PFS was translated using a procédure of translation and back translation and tested on 20 bilingual subjects. ⋯ The overall results of this preliminary study are satisfactory. We expect results to be further improved by the modifications proposed and testing is now underway in homogenous populations to evaluate the sensitivity of the instrument to changes over time. This will enable us to ascertain the definitive French version of the Piper Fatigue Scale.