Development and validation of a sexual functioning measure for use in diverse women's health outcome studies.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Sexual Health Outcomes in Women Questionnaire (SHOW-Q).


METHODS
SHOW-Q was developed to assess the impact of pelvic problems on sexual desire, frequency, satisfaction, orgasm, and discomfort. A total of 1833 English- or Spanish-speaking women enrolled in 5 studies across the United States completed relevant items at baseline and, for 4 studies, periodically thereafter. Participants also completed measures of pelvic symptomatology and health-related quality-of-life including mental and physical component scales (MCS, PCS).


RESULTS
Factor analysis revealed a 12-item scale with high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86) and 4 reliable subscales (alpha = 0.73 to 0.84). Among sexually active women, SHOW-Q scores showed statistically significant correlations (P < .001) with MCS (0.267), PCS (0.378), body image (.360), and symptom resolution (.237). The SHOW-Q subscales were also correlated with these other measures at baseline and over time.


CONCLUSIONS
SHOW-Q is a reliable, valid, and sensitive measure of sexual functioning for use in diverse women's health outcome studies.
Learman
Lee A
LA
Department of Obstetrics, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Huang
Alison J
AJ
Nakagawa
Sanae
S
Gregorich
Steven E
SE
Kuppermann
Miriam
M
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D054928:Validation Studies as Topic; D016387:Women's Health