The development and testing of an instrument for perceived self-efficacy for fatigue self-management.

Background: Persons with chronic illness commonly report fatigue. Measurement of perceived self-efficacy for fatigue self-management (PSEFSM) is essential if fatigue is to be monitored and enhanced to improve physical functional status.

Objective: The objective of the study was to describe the development and testing of the PSEFSM instrument.

Methods: The PSEFSM instrument was incorporated into 2 randomized controlled trials for secondary analysis (N=298): 63 persons with lung cancer and 235 persons with other cancer diagnoses undergoing a course of chemotherapy.

Result: : Evidence for construct validity and generalizability was supported through hypotheses testing of the mediation pathway from fatigue to physical functional status through PSEFSM, with results indicating support for partial mediation. Structural modeling indicated a good model fit that further supported the construct validity of the PSEFSM instrument.

Conclusions: The instrument provides a reliable and valid measure of PSEFSM that could be used in research to facilitate the development of interventions to increase perceived self-efficacy to achieve optimal symptom self-management.

Implications For Practice: The PSEFSM instrument is brief and easy to complete, which results in a low response burden for persons who are already fatigued, providing for regular use in transdisciplinary research and practice settings. This is important because the use of this instrument can impact how we partner with our patients to better understand how to manage this troublesome symptom, fatigue.