A validated self-administered female pelvic floor questionnaire.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to validate a self-administered version of the already validated interviewer-administered Australian pelvic floor questionnaire.

METHODS

The questionnaire was completed by 163 women attending an urogynecological clinic. Face and convergent validity was assessed. Reliability testing and comparison with the interviewer-administered version was performed in a subset of 105 patients. Responsiveness was evaluated in a subset of 73 women.

RESULTS

Missing data did not exceed 4% for any question. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were acceptable in all domains. Kappa coefficients for the test-retest analyses varied from 0.64-1.0. Prolapse symptoms correlated significantly with the pelvic organ prolapse quantification. Urodynamics confirmed the reported symptom stress incontinence in 70%. The self and interviewer-administered questionnaires demonstrated equivalence. Effect sizes ranged from 0.6 to 1.4.

CONCLUSIONS

This self-administered pelvic floor questionnaire assessed pelvic floor function in a reproducible and valid fashion and due to its responsiveness, can be used for routine clinical assessment and outcome research.