Can the Fatigue Severity Scale 7-item version be used across different patient populations as a generic fatigue measure - a comparative study using a Rasch model approach

Table 1 Sample socio-demographic characteristics and fatigue severity scale-7 mean scores

Socio-demographic variables	MS N = 224 (Group A)	Stroke N = 104 (Group B)	HIV/AIDS N = 316 (Group C)	Significant differences between groups (p < 0.05)
Age: years (M ± SD)*	46.5 ± 12.4	68.0 ± 12.8	45.1 ± 8.4	A,C < B
Range	20 – 75	29 – 91	22 – 77
Years since diagnosis (M ± SD)*	14 (10)	1 (0.1)	12 (7)	A,C > B
Range	0 – 44	1 – 1	0 – 27
Gender: n (%)
Women	149 (68)	41 (39)	77 (24)	A > B > C
Men	(75 (32)	63 (61)	216 (69)
Transgender			23 (7)^†
Living with partner: n (%)	152 (69)	70 (67)	109 (35)	A,C > B
In paid work: n (%)	97 (43)	25 (24)	42 (13)	A > B > C
FSS-7 (M ± SD)*	4.7 ± 1.7	3.9 ± 1.6	3.8 ± 1.7	A > B,C
Range	1.0 – 7.0	1.0 – 7.0	1.0 – 7.0

*(Mean ± Standard Deviation).
^†Transgender was not included in the analysis of differences between groups with regard to gender.

ISSN: 1477-7525