title: Development and validation of the Menopause-specific Quality of Life Scale for menopausal Thai women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a new instrument, the Menopause-specific Quality of Life Scale (MS-QoLS), for Thai women and to study the experience of menopausal aspects in peri- and postmenopausal Thai women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Item generation was developed from a focus group discussion and in-depth interview, and the content validity index (CVI) was computed, using item relevance ratings by content experts. Items with CVI values higher than 0.7 were selected. The draft questionnaire was tested for language, format and content. The final questionnaire was administered and the construct validity and reliability were then assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-seven peri- and postmenopausal women participated in the focus group discussion and in-depth interview. Sixty-eight items across eight dimensions were generated based on content analysis result. The dimensions included Physical health, Psychological health, Sexual health, Daily activity, Family, Social, Treatment, and Economics. A total of 280 menopausal women were recruited from four collaborative hospitals for psychometric validation. After factor analysis, 22 items remained with six dimensions identified, that is, well-being, emotionality, anxiety/fear, family, social and sexual health. Cronbach's coefficient α of each domain was between 0.61 and 0.83.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Thai MS-QoLS was systematically developed and validated for peri- or postmenopausal women. The initial assessment of the questionnaire showed an acceptable level of validity and reliability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chaikittisilpa
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nimnuan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chirawatkul
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jirapinyo
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Techatraisak
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rattanachaiyanont
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srisuparp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Panyakhamlerd
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Jaisamrarn
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Taechakraichana
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Limpongsanurak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D019584:Hot Flashes; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D063806:Myalgia; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal; D011788:Quality of Life; D060728:Reproductive Health; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013546:Sweating; D013785:Thailand; D014623:Vaginal Diseases