Harmonized Italian version of the Aging Males' Symptoms scale.
BACKGROUND
The interest in clinical investigations in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of aging men has increased over recent years, particularly in the context of partial androgen deficiency. The aim of this paper is to inform the scientific community about a harmonized Italian Aging Males' Symptoms (AMS) scale.


METHODS
There were two slightly different Italian AMS scales, which both underwent an up-to-date linguistic & cultural translation process, i.e., were both valid to be applied in clinical research. However, there are potential long-term problems associated with having two Italian language versions of the scale in the same country. Therefore, an ad hoc committee of key persons related to both versions met with the scale's developer, to create a harmonized single Italian AMS.


RESULTS
The harmonization meeting came up with a consensus item-by-item and the new Italian reference scale was agreed upon. It was decided that this scale should be published to avoid any confusion among future users.


CONCLUSIONS
The Italian AMS scale published in this paper should be used for future clinical and other research.
Valenti
G
G
University of Parma, Department of Geriatrics, Parma, Italy.
Gontero
P
P
Saccò
M
M
Fontana
F
F
Strollo
F
F
Castellucci
A
A
Heinemann
L A J
LA
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D000728:Androgens / Q000172:deficiency*; D032921:Consensus; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013739:Testosterone / Q000172:deficiency*
D000728:Androgens; D013739:Testosterone