The Czech version of the Utian Quality of Life Scale questionnaire assessing women's quality of life during menopause
Abstract
Introduction: Menopause is a physiological process, forming a part of a lifetime that most women go through. This period of life is briefly described by experts as a triple transformation: biological, social, and psychological.
For menopausal women, health care professionals can use one of 10 specific questionnaires to assess health-related quality of life and its symptoms. The authors herein speak about the preparation of a Czech version of one such questionnaire - the Utian Quality of Life Scale (UQOL).
Material and methods: A Czech version of the UQOL was created by repeated and backward translation. It was validated on a sample of 204 women after natural menopause (45-65 years old).
We judged the reliability of the Czech version of UQOL using Cronbach's a. We assessed the instrument's validity by means of confirmation factor analysis.
Results: The authors modified the original version of the UQOL. The Czech version has 4 new domains with 18 items.
This form was created using the results of confirmation factor analysis. Conclusions: The Utian Quality of Life Scale questionnaire is completed by the women themselves, thus meeting the golden rule of all quality-of-life research stating that the primary source should be data from the client him/herself.
However, this requirement raises some methodological problems.