Measuring Women’s Fatigue During the Postpartum Period

The Fatigue Symptom Checklist (FSC) (Yoshitake, 1978), developed in Japan, was selected to measure postpartum fatigue among American women. Minor wording changes and a change in the reference time frame were made. Reliability and validity of this modification of the FSC were tested in this reanalysis of data from a longitudinal study of 285 mothers. Internal consistency reliability for the total 30-item FSC was acceptable. Evidence for criterion-related and construct validity was found. Original FSC subscales were not confirmed in these analyses. Using factor analysis, a shortened 10-item postpartum scale and two postpartum subscales, physical and mental fatigue, were identified. LISRAEL confirmatory factor analysis supported the subscales. Results support appropriateness of the total 30-item FSC, the shortened 10-item postpartum scale, and postpartum subscales for measuring postpartum fatigue in American women.