The German version of the 'ICIQ Vaginal Symptoms Questionnaire' (German ICIQ-VS): an instrument validation study.
BACKGROUND
No validated questionnaire that evaluates vaginal symptoms is currently available in the German language. Here, we report the translation and validation process of the German ICIQ-VS.


METHODS
Pilot study: 10 patients without any specific disease. MAIN STUDY: 58 Patients (cases) suffering from genital descensus higher than grade 1 pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POPQ) and 51 patients (controls) without vaginal affections.


METHODS
To establish a cultural-adaptive equivalent in German, recommendations from Guillemin et al. [J Clin Epidemiol 1993;46:1417-1432] were carefully followed. Participants of the main study were asked to fill in the questionnaire at three time points [baseline (T1), 7 days later (T2) and 1 year later (T3)]. Reliability, validity and sensitivity to change were evaluated.


RESULTS
In our pilot study, all questionnaire items were correctly interpreted and answered. In the main study, no changes from the original format were observed after translation and cultural adaptation. For the cases, internal consistency was acceptable (Cronbach's alpha 0.72-0.79) and test-retest reliability was moderate to near-perfect for single items (weighted kappa 0.67-0.94). Sensitivity to change and content validity were excellent. Construct validity revealed statistically significant differences between groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The ICIQ-VS has successfully been translated and validated into the German language.
Department of Gynecology, Hospital Dormagen, Teaching Hospital, University of Cologne, Dormagen, Germany. carolin.banerjee @ kkh-ne.de
Carolin
C
Banerjee
Marc
M
Banerjee
Wolfgang
W
Hatzmann
Sven
S
Schiermeier
Katrin
K
Sachse
Martin
M
Hellmich
Günter Karl
GK
Noé
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D032882:Comprehension; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D056887:Pelvic Organ Prolapse / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology