Elaboration and validation of a questionnaire of fatigue for sport children

Fatigue induced by regular sport activity in children with important training sessions and competitions has not received an important attention from researchers. In this context, we developed an auto-questionnaire of fatigue, especially for athletic children of 8 to 15 years old. We tested this questionnaire for the following psychometric properties: comprehension, construct validity, sensibility and reproducibility. These criteria were evaluated by specific and reliable statistic analysis. Results of this validation were sterling (compliance = 98.48%, confidence interval superior to 95%, homogeneity of the analysis by principal components and Cronbach coefficient superior 95%). These first analyses of sport child's fatigue enables us to confirm its feasibility, on the condition of using specific tools, for the clinician or for the professionals involved in sport medicine, and its relevance as an element for evaluating the needs linked with the health of the young sport population. (c) 2006 Elsevier SAS. Tous droirs reserves.