Reliability, validity, and cross-cultural adaptation of the Turkish version of the Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multi-Dimensional Questionnaire

Up to 98% of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients experienced fatigue. It is an important physical and cognitive symptom which has overwhelming, uncontrollable, and unpredictable affects throughout their whole life. RA fatigue composes of complex and multi-dimensional components which are pain, stress, depression, inflammation, and disability. The acknowledgement of fatigue is important, and fatigue should be measured in all RA trials alongside the core set. The aim of this study was to determine reliability and validity of Turkish version of Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multi-Dimensional Questionnaire in RA patients. One hundred RA patients were evaluated in the study. Exclusion criteria were determined as patients with cognitive impairment, illiterate patients, unable to understand and speak Turkish, under the age of 18, and over the age of 75. To validate Turkish version of Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multi-Dimensional Questionnaire (BRAF-MDQ) (BRAF-MDQ-T), all participants answered BRAF-MDQ-T, Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF) scale, and Short Form-36 vitality (SF-36 VT). BRAF-MDQ-T was applied again 7 days later for test-retest reliability. Validity, internal consistency, and test-retest results were based on a sample of 100 patients. Internal consistency reliability of BRAF-MDQ-T was Cronbach alpha = 0.95 which was excellent. The correlation between the total scores of the BRAF-MDQ-T scale and the total scores of MAF-T was statistically significant (r = 0.82, p < 0.001). The correlation between the total scores of the BRAF-MDQ-T scale and the subscale scores of SF-36 VT was statistically significant (r = - 0.64, p < 0.001). The BRAF-MDQ-T is a valid and reliable scale for the assessment of fatigue in Turkish rheumatoid arthritis patients.