Minimal Clinically Important Difference of the Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory-Short Form (MFSI-SF) for Fatigue Worsening in Asian Breast Cancer Patients

• Published in: Journal of pain and symptom management 2018-03, Vol.55 (3), p.992-997.e2
• Main Authors: Chan, Alexandre, Yo, Tiffany Eri, Wang, Xiao Jun, Ng, Terence, Chae, Jung-Woo, Yeo, Hui Ling, Shwe, Maung, Gan, Yan Xiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast cancer; Chemotherapy; Clinical research; Clinical significance; Clinical trials; Deterioration; European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30; Fatigue; Minimal clinically important difference; Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory-Short Form; Quality of life; Questionnaires
• ISSN: 0885-3924; 1873-6513
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.10.014

The minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of the Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory-Short Form (MFSI-SF), a questionnaire that measures cancer-related fatigue, has not been established in patients with cancer. This study aims to determine the MCID of the MFSI-SF. Breast cancer patients completed the MFSI-SF and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC-QLQ-C30) before chemotherapy and at least three weeks later. The EORTC-QLQ-C30 fatigue scale (EORTC-FA) was used as an anchor, and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was also used to identify the optimal MCID cut-off for fatigue deterioration. A distribution-based approach used one-third of the SD, half of the SD, and one SEM of the total MFSI-SF score to determine the MCID. A total of 201 patients were analyzed. Change scores of the MFSI-SF and EORTC-FA were moderately correlated (r = 0.47, P