[Quality of life instruments for women with pelvic organ prolapse]

Abstract

Objectives: Our goal was to develop quality of life questionnaires in French for women with pelvic organ prolapse.

Material and method: From two questionnaires previously developed for prolapse and validated in English, the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory and the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire, we have developed two questionnaires in French, the Inventaire des Symptômes de Prolapsus (ISP) and the Questionnaire sur l'Impact du Prolapsus (QIP). The ISP assesses symptom distress in women with pelvic floor disorders and measures how much these symptoms bother women. The QIP assesses life and emotional impact. These questionnaires were constructed after a double translation, a double expertise and patient interviews. A complete cross-validation into French is currently unfeasible due to cost considerations.

Results: The ISP and QIP questionnaires assess urinary, colorectal-anal and vaginal symptoms in relation to pelvic floor disorders. Both questionnaires significantly correlated with urinary and colorectal-anal symptoms. The main advantage of these instruments is the use of scales, with separate simple score for each scale.

Conclusion: Based on two previously validated English questionnaires, the PFDI and the PFIQ, we have developed the first quality-of-life instruments in French for women with pelvic organ prolapse, the ISP and the QIP.