Assessment of female sexual function among women with pelvic organ prolapse or urinary incontinence via an Arabic validated short-form sexual questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE

To assess female sexual function among women with pelvic organ prolapse or urinary incontinence via an Arabic, validated, short-form sexual questionnaire (PISQ-12).

METHODS

The present study was conducted among women attending Suez Canal University Hospital, Ismailia, Egypt, between September 2009 and August 2011. In the pilot study, 42 women completed the final version of the Arabic PISQ-12 at recruitment and then 2 weeks later, and the data were compared to evaluate reliability and internal consistency. The formal comparative study included 154 premenopausal sexually active women: 80 control women, and 74 women with some degree of pelvic prolapse with or without stress incontinence. All participants had a vaginal examination and completed the questionnaire. The main outcome measures were the mean questionnaire scores within its 3 domains (behavioral, physical, and partner-related).

RESULTS

The test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the Arabic PISQ-12 were excellent. Validity was approved by an expert panel. The case group had a significantly lower mean total questionnaire score (31.07 ± 4.2 vs 34.7 ± 6.2; P<0.05) but a higher partner-related score (9.0 ± 2.4 vs 8.4 ± 2.5; P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

The Arabic version of PISQ-12 was shown to be an effective and objective method of evaluating sexual function among patients with pelvic organ prolapse.