Iranian version of modified polycystic ovary syndrome health-related quality of Life questionnaire: Discriminant and convergent validity

Background: A preliminary report indicated that the Iranian version of modified polycystic ovary syndrome health-related quality of life questionnaire (MPCOSQ) isa valid measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in PCOS patients. Accordingly, the Iranian version of MPCOSQ was subjected to further psychometricanalyses among a different sample of patients with PCOS. Objective: To examine discriminant and convergent validity of the Iranian versionof MPCOSQ. Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study of 200 women withPCOS that was carried out in two private gynecology clinics in Kashan, Iran. Discriminant validity was assessed using the known groups comparison. Convergentvalidity was evaluated by assessing the correlation between similar content on the MPCOSQ and the SF-36.Results: The mean scores for the MPCOSQ showed that women rated lowest on theinfertility and menstrual subscales indicating worst health in these dimensions. The results from the SF-36 questionnaire indicated that emotional and vitality domains were the areas of poorest health. Known groups comparison showed that theMPCOSQ differentiated well between sub-groups of women who differed in PCOS specific symptoms, lending support to its discriminant validity. Convergent validitywas assessed and as expected a good positive correlation was found between related subscales of the two instruments. Conclusion: The MPCOSQ has now been extensively tested in Iran and can be considered for using as an outcome measure in future outcome studies in this population.

Keywords:

Questionnaire , Polycystic ovary syndrome , Quality of life