Validation of Czech versions of questionnaires assessing male sexual function and pelvic floor function
Abstract
Rheumatic diseases often negatively affect patients' quality of life. The area of sexual health may also be affected by both somatic problems and psychological changes or side effects of pharmacotherapy.
The current literature has suggested a high prevalence of sexual dysfunctions among men with rheumatic diseases. Patient-reported outcome measures can be a non-invasive and cost-effective method to assess sexual function.
This work aimed to perform the Czech translation and linguistic validation of questionnaires evaluating the male sexual function and pelvic floor function: International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), Male Sexual Health Questionnaire (MSHQ), Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire - Male (SQoL-M) a Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire - short form 7 (PFIQ-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, prefinal Czech versions of the questionnaires were created, which were afterward completed by 54 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IZM), systemic sclerosis (SSc), and 54 healthy men of the identical 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. The results of this study are the Czech versions of the IIEF, MSHQ, SQoL-M, and PFIQ-7 questionnaires.
All questionnaires proved to be understandable. Patients with rheumatic diseases 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.