Validation of the pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POP-Q) system in left lateral position.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to examine the inter-observer reliability of the pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POP-Q) system in left lateral position.


METHODS
Women attending urogynaecology outpatient clinics were examined in the left lateral position using a digital examination and POP-Q. This was repeated separately by a second blinded clinician. The inter-observer agreement was calculated using the Cohen's kappa coefficient. The POP-Q examination was then performed with a woman lying in dorsal lithotomy position. The POP-Q findings in the two positions were compared.


RESULTS
Two hundred and eighteen women were recruited. The digital examination had a moderate inter-observer reliability with a kappa value of 0.54. The POP-Q showed a high degree of reliability (0.88). There was a high degree of correlation between the POP-Q findings in left lateral and lithotomy position (rho > 0.95, p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The POP-Q in the left lateral position is reliable, easy to perform, acceptable for patients, and is not a time-consuming examination.
Digesu
G Alessandro
GA
Department of Urogynaecology, St. Mary's Hospital, London, UK. digesualex@hotmail.com
Athanasiou
Stavros
S
Cardozo
Linda
L
Hill
Simon
S
Khullar
Vik
V
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014596:Uterine Prolapse / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014636:Valsalva Maneuver