The Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI)
BFI Features
- Purpose: To assess the severity of fatigue and the impact of fatigue on daily functioning
- Population: Patients with fatigue due to cancer and cancer treatment
- Assessment Areas: Severity of fatigue and the impact of fatigue on daily functioning in the past 24 hours
- Method: Self-report, interview with research staff, or interactive voice response system (IVR)
- Time required: Five minutes
- Scoring: A global fatigue score can be obtained by averaging all the items on the BFI
- Reliability: Cronbach alpha reliability ranges from 0.82 to 0.97
BFI Language Versions
The BFI is available in the following languages. The BFI may not be modified or translated into another language without the express written consent of the copyright holder, Dr. Charles S. Cleeland (see Notice of Copyright below).
Click on a linked language to view a sample in PDF format.
| Language | Psychometrically Validated | Linguistically Validated |
|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | ♦ | |
| Arabic | ♦ | |
| Bengali | ♦ | |
| Bulgarian | ♦ | |
| Chinese (Simplified) | ♦ | ♦ |
| Chinese (Traditional) | ♦ | ♦ |
| Croatian | ♦ | |
| Czech | ♦ | |
| Danish | ♦ | |
| Dutch | ♦ | |
| English | ♦ | ♦ |
| Filipino (formerly Tagalog) | ♦ | ♦ |
| French | ♦ | |
| German | ♦ | ♦ |
| Greek | ♦ | ♦ |
| Gurajathi | ♦ | |
| Hebrew | ♦ | |
| Hindi | ♦ | |
| Hungarian | ♦ | |
| Italian | ♦ | |
| Japanese | ♦ | ♦ |
| Korean | ♦ | ♦ |
| Latvian | ♦ | |
| Malay | ♦ | |
| Marathi | ♦ | |
| Norwegian | ♦ | |
| Polish | ♦ | |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | ♦ | |
| Russian | ♦ | ♦ |
| Slovak | ♦ | |
| Spanish | ♦ | ♦ |
| Tamil | ♦ | |
| Thai | ♦ | |
| Ukrainian | ♦ | |
| Urdu | ♦ |
Future Validation Studies: We would like to collaborate with investigators from other countries to develop and validate other language versions of the BFI. Contact us for more information.
To Order the BFI
To use the BFI in a publication or clinical or research trial, you must obtain permission and you must agree to comply with the copyright. Fees may apply (see below).
- Fill out our permission form. The BFI will be e-mailed to you as a PDF file within seven to 10 business days. If your request is urgent, please contact us via e-mail or at the address/phone number below to make special arrangements.
The Department of Symptom Research
Attn: Lori F. Smith
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 1450
Houston, Texas 77030
713-745-3805
- The fee structure is as follows:
- Non-funded academic research and individual clinical practice
- free of charge
- Funded academic research
- $300 per project for the first language version
- $50 per each additional language version within a project
- Commercial research
- $800 per project for the first language version
- $400 per each additional language version within a project
- Non-funded academic research and individual clinical practice
If applicable, an invoice will be e-mailed to you within 10 days. Please reference the invoice number on your payment. Include on the memo line, "M. D. Anderson Assessment Tool Distribution."
Notice of Copyright
The Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) copyright is held by Dr. Charles S. Cleeland (1997). The copyright applies to the BFI and all its derivatives in any language.
The BFI may not be used or reproduced without permission from Charles S. Cleeland, Ph.D., or his designee. Fees for use may apply (see above).
The BFI may not be modified or translated into another language without the express written consent of the copyright holder. Failure to comply may result in legal action. Contact us via e-mail or at the address shown above to obtain permission to alter or translate the instrument.
Selected References
Mendoza T, Wang XS, Cleeland CS, Morrissey M, Johnson BA, Wendt JK, Huber SL. The rapid assessment of fatigue severity in cancer patients: use of the Brief Fatigue Inventory. Cancer 1999; 85: 1186-96.
Chang YJ, Lee JS, Lee CG, Lee WS, Lee KS, Bang SM, Wang XS, Mendoza TR, Cleeland CS, Yun YH. Assessment of clinical relevant fatigue level in cancer. Support Care Cancer 15(7): 891-896, 2007.
Lin CC, Chang AP, Chen ML, Cleeland CS, Mendoza TR, Wang XS. Validation of the Taiwanese Version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory. J Pain Symptom Manage 32(1): 52-59, 2006.
Yun YH, Wang XS, Lee JS, Roh JW, Lee CG, Lee WS, Lee KS, Bang SM, Mendoza TR, Cleeland CS. Validation study of the Korean version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory. J Pain Symptom Manage 29(2): 165-172, 2005.
Wang XS, Hao XS, Wang Y, Guo H, Jiang YQ, Mendoza TR, Cleeland CS. Validation study of the Chinese version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI-C). J Pain Symptom Manage 27(4): 322-332, 2004.
Okuyama T, Wang XS, Akechi T, Mendoza TR, Hosaka T, Cleeland CS, Uchitomi Y. Validation study of the Japanese version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory. J Pain Symptom Manage 25(2): 106-117, 2003.
Radbruch L, Sabatowski R, Elsner F, Everts J, Mendoza T, Cleeland C. Validation of the German version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory. J Pain Symptom Manage 25(5): 449-458, 2003.