/  Assessment Tools

Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory – Short Form

(MFSI-SF)

Research Group
CBPI
Contacts Maria Inês Santos Clara

TITLE OF THE PORTUGUESE VERSION

Inventário Multidimensional de Sintomas de Fadiga – Forma Reduzida

ORIGINAL VERSION

Stein, Jacobsen, Blanchard, & Thors, 2004

PORTUGUESE VERSION

Clara, Stein, Canavarro, & Allen Gomes, 2023

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Portuguese version of the Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory – Short Form, the Inventário Multidimensional de Sintomas de Fadiga – Forma Reduzida (IMSF-FR), is a 30-item self-report instrument designed to capture the global, somatic, affective, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms of fatigue. Respondents indicate the extent to which they have experienced each symptom in the preceding week on a 5-point Likert scale from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). The IMSF-FR consists of 5 subscales: general fatigue, physical fatigue, emotional fatigue, mental fatigue, and vigor. Each subscale score ranges from 0-24.

The total IMSF-FR score is tabulated by summing the four fatigue subscales and subtracting the vigor subscale score. Total IMSF-FR score ranges from -24 to 96, with a higher score indicating a higher fatigue level.

Scoring instructions for the IMSF-FR are as follows:

General scale = sum of items 10, 12, 14, 17, 18, and 28

Physical scale = sum of items 2, 4, 6, 16, 19, and 26

Emotional scale = sum of items 3, 8, 13, 21, 23, and 30

Mental scale = sum of items 1, 11, 15, 20, 25, and 27

Vigor scale = sum of items 5, 7, 9, 22, 24, and 29

Total score = (General + Physical + Emotional + Mental) – Vigor

As the IMSF-FR is not disease-specific, nor it assumes the presence of fatigue, it can be completed in a wide variety of settings (by cancer patients, patients with other chronic illnesses, and healthy individuals) in about 5 minutes.

REFERENCES

  • Clara, M. I., Stein, K., Canavarro, M. C., & Allen Gomes, A. (2023). European Portuguese Version of the Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory-Short Form: Validation Study. Acta Médica Portuguesa. https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.18797

  • Stein, K. D., Jacobsen, P. B., Blanchard, C. M., & Thors, C. (2004). Further validation of the multidimensional fatigue symptom inventory-short form. Journal of pain and symptom management, 27(1), 14–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2003.06.003

Link