Validation of Czech versions of questionnaires assessing female sexual function and pelvic floor function
Abstract
Rheumatic diseases can affect all aspects of life, including sexual function. The etiologies of sexual dysfunctions in rheumatic diseases are often multifactorial and include factors associated with both disease and therapy.
Sexual dysfunction may also be related to pelvic floor dysfunction. Recent studies suggested a high prevalence of sexual dysfunction among patients with rheumatic diseases.
This work aimed to perform the Czech translation and linguistic validation of questionnaires evaluating the female sexual function and pelvic floor function: Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Brief Index of Sexual Functioning for Women (BISF-W), Sexual Function Questionnaire - 28 items (SFQ28), Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire - Female (SQoL-F), Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire - short form (PISQ-12) and Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire - short form 7 (PFlQ-7). The original versions of the questionnaires were translated by two independent bilingual health professionals and consensually discussed and synthesized by the authors of this paper.
In the next step, six bilingual non-physicians commented on the linguistic and content aspects of the questionnaires, and their comments were taken into account by an expert panel. Subsequently, two independent blinded translators carried out a back-translation.
Consensually, pre-final Czech versions of the questionnaires were created, which were afterward completed by 41 female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 30 female patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 50 female patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), 70 female patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and 191 healthy women matched for age. A feedback questionnaire was used to assess the comprehensibility and conciseness of each question.
The expert panel considered the patients' comments when creating the definitive Czech versions of the questionnaires. This work has resulted in the creation of Czech versions of the FSFI, BISF-W, SFQ28, SQoL-F, PISQ-12, and PFIQ-7 questionnaires.
All questionnaires proved to be understandable. Patients with RA, SLE, IIM, and SSc achieved scores that were numerically similar to the results of previously published studies.
These questionnaires may be appropriate tools to be used in clinical research and routine clinical practice.