title: Validation of a quality-of-life scale for women with bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To validate a disease-specific scale to measure the impact of symptoms of bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC), a condition that affects up to 6.5% of U.S. women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were drawn from the RAND Interstitial Cystitis Epidemiology (RICE) Study, a telephone probability survey of 146,231 US households. Women who met RICE BPS/IC symptom criteria (n = 3,397) completed the 6-item RAND Bladder Symptom Impact scale (RICE BSI-6). The RICE BSI-6 was adapted from a scale used to assess the impact of diabetes on life and sexuality and modified based on expert input on face validity and focus group work; items specific to diabetic symptoms were eliminated. Validated scales of symptom severity, mental- and physical-health-related quality of life (QoL), depression, coping, and perceived control were used to assess convergent validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RICE BSI-6 (α = 0.92) was significantly related to greater symptom severity, worse general mental- and physical-health-related QoL, more severe depression symptoms, and lower perceived control over life in general and over BPS/IC symptoms (P values < .05). It was also associated with less use of distancing coping (P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The RICE BSI-6 shows excellent internal consistency and strong convergent validity. It can be used to examine the effects of psychosocial and treatment interventions on QoL among women with BPS/IC.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, 21 Autumn Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. laura.bogart@childrens.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bogart
authors.forename: Marika J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Suttorp
authors.forename: Marc N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: J Quentin
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Clemens
authors.forename: Sandra H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Berry
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D018856:Cystitis, Interstitial / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D053201:Urinary Bladder, Overactive / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D016387:Women's Health