AUTHOR=Wondie Yemataw , Hinz Andreas 

TITLE=Application of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory to Ethiopian Cancer Patients

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.687994

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.687994

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Objectives: Fatigue is a frequent debilitating symptom associated with cancer. However, scientific data on cancer-related fatigue is scarce in developing nations. The present study examines psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) and analyzes the level of fatigue among Ethiopian cancer patients in comparison with data from Germany. 
Methods: A sample of 256 cancer patients drawn from a hospital in Ethiopia was examined with the MFI-20 and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). A comparative sample of 780 German cancer patients served as controls.
Results: The MFI-20 scales and total score showed acceptable reliability ( = 0.60 to 0.93) with a considerable convergent validity between MFI-20 and the EORTC QLQ-C30 fatigue scale (r = 0.67 to 0.75). The Ethiopian cancer patients reported higher levels of fatigue than the German ones. Analyses of variance showed that Ethiopian cancer patients who were illiterate, having advanced cancer, and those who did not receive either surgery or chemotherapy reported especially high levels of fatigue. 
Conclusion: The MFI-20 is a fairly reliable and valid instrument to be used with Amharic speaking cancer patients. The high level of fatigue in these patients implies that appropriate cancer care is needed in developing countries.