The development of a quality of life instrument for use with post-menopausal women with urogenital atrophy in the UK and Sweden.

Many post-menopausal women suffer from oestrogen deficiency. This can cause urogenital atrophy which leads to symptoms such as dyspareunia, dysuria, vaginal dryness and urge incontinence. Even though urogenital atrophy is a common condition, little attempt has been made to investigate the impact that the condition has on the quality of life of the women concerned. A quality of life instrument specifically for use with women with urogenital atrophy was developed. The needs-based approach to quality of life was adopted, which states that quality of life is the extent to which an individual is able to satisfy her needs. The development work was undertaken simultaneously in the UK and Sweden. The measure was found to be acceptable and relevant to women in both countries and to have good levels of test-retest reliability (0.92 in the UK and 0.85 in Sweden), internal consistency (alpha coefficients 0.90 in both countries) and construct validity. It is suitable for use in clinical trials and for monitoring the progress of patients in clinical practice.