Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the “Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue Scale”

BACKGROUND: Fatigue is a common symptom in office workers. The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (P-MAF) scale and its association with productivity among Iranian office workers. METHODS: In order to validate the MAF scale, using “forward-backward” translation, cognitive debriefing, and cultural adaptation procedure, the English version of the MAF was translated into Farsi. A total of 129 Iranian office workers with at least 1-year job experience were included in the study. The Persian version of the Health and Work Questionnaire was used for assessment of the productivity in the participants. RESULTS: Internal consistency for all subscales of the P-MAF scale was acceptable (α ≥ 0.854). The correlation of convergent validity and the correlation of discriminant validity for all subscales ranged from 0.466 to 0.948 and 0.121 to 0.5, respectively. Internal consistency of each subscale of P-MAF for sex, marital status, job tenure, and daily working hours was high (0.810–0.952). Factor analysis of the P-MAF scale revealed that its items were related to severity, distress, timing of fatigue, interference with activity at home, and interference with activity away from home. The results showed significant correlations between the score of fatigue and some subscales of P-MAF, including concentration/focus (r = 0.649, P < 0.001) and impatience/irritability (r = 0.334, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The P-MAF had appropriate structural characteristics, was a valid and reliable instrument, and could be used for measuring fatigue among Iranian office workers.