A short form of the Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire (PISQ-12)

The aim of this study was to develop the short form of a condition-specific, reliable, validated and self-administered instrument to evaluate sexual function in women with pelvic organ prolapse and/or urinary incontinence. The Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire –12 (PISQ-12) was developed from the data of 99 of 182 women surveyed to create the long form (PISQ-31). An additional 46 patients were recruited for further validation. All subsets regression analysis identified 12 items likely to predict PISQ-31 scores. Short form scores underwent correlation analysis with long form, Incontinence Impact Questionnaire – 7 (IIQ-7), Sexual History Form –12 (SHF-12) and Symptom Questionnaire (SQ) scores. Test–retest reliability was checked with a subset of 20 patients. All subsets regression analysis with R>0.92 identified 12 items that predicted PISQ-31 scores. Short form scores were highly correlated with long form scores (R=0.75–0.95). Correlations of the PISQ-12 with SHF-12 (R=–0.66 and –0.68) and IIQ-7 (R=–0.38 and –0.54) scores were similar to correlation of the PISQ-31 with these other measures. Reliability was moderate to high, with weighted κ values from 0.56 to 0.93. PISQ-12 scores were lower in patients with low sexual function as measured on the SHF-12 (P <0.001), and lower in women with depression as measured on the SQ (P <0.001). The PISQ-12 is a validated and reliable short form that evaluates sexual function in women with urinary incontinence and/or pelvic organ prolapse and predicts PISQ-31 scores. It is able to distinguish women with poor sexual function as measured on the SHF-12.