Menopause-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire: factor and Rasch analytic approach

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the Menopause-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) in Serbian climacteric women.

Methods: Two hundred mid-aged (40–65 years) women filled out a general sociodemographic and medical questionnaire, the MENQOL, the Short Form-36 questionnaire (SF-36), and Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). The MENQOL was translated according to recommended methodology and its psychometric properties (internal consistency, discriminant, construct and criterion validity, factor and Rasch analyses) were assessed.

Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the Serbian MENQOL was 0.957 (Vasomotor =0.917, Psychosocial =0.907, Physical =0.928, Sexual =0.913). Corrected item–total correlation coefficients were >0.50 for all items. Factor analysis extracted six domains with total variance of 72.02%. Beside the four original domains, two new domains were observed: Attractiveness and Pain. Factor loadings for all items were appropriate (>0.4). The MENQOL correlated with the SF-36 and BDI total scores, suggesting good criterion validity. Rasch analysis showed adequate reliability (item =0.91; person =0.79) and separation (item =1.95; person =3.21) indexes, proving good reproducibility and reliability of the Serbian MENQOL. All items had infit and outfit mean squares in the standard accepted range.

Conclusion: Principal component analysis showed somewhat different constructs from the original scale. However, Rasch analysis confirmed that the MENQOL represents a good metric instrument for menopausal symptoms.

Chinese abstract

目的：评价塞尔维亚更年期妇女绝经特异性生活质量问卷（MENQOL）的心理测量特性。

方法：200名中年（40 - 65岁）妇女填写了社会人口统计与医疗问卷：MENQOL、Short Form-36问卷（SF-36）和Beck’s Depression Inventory（BDI）。根据推荐的方法翻译MENQOL, 并对其心理测量特性（内部一致性、判别性、结构效度与效度、因素与Rasch分析）进行评估。

结果：塞尔维亚更年期妇女绝经生活质量问卷（MENQOL）的克伦巴赫α系数（Cronbach s alphacoefficient）为0.957（血管舒缩=0.917, 社会心理=0.907, 身体=0.928, 性=0.913）。各项校正后的总相关系数为>0 .50。因素分析来自6个方面, 总方差为72.02%。除了四个原来的因素外, 还观察到两个新的因素：吸引力和疼痛。所有项目的因素负载都是适当的（>0.4）。MENQOL与SF-36、BDI总分相关, 说明标准效度较好。Rasch分析结果足够可靠（item =0.91；person=0.79）、分离指数（item =1.95; person =3.21）, 证明塞尔维亚MENQOL具有良好的重现性和可靠性。各项的均方差均在标准可接受范围内。

结论：主成分分析结果与原量表有一定差异。然而, Rasch分析证实MENQOL是一种很好的测量绝经期症状的工具。

Keywords:

• Quality of life
• menopause
• validation
• psychometric
• Rasch analysis

Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank Jacqueline Lewis and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for allowing them to adapt the original version of the MENQOL. The authors would like to express gratitude to the two Community Health Centers in Belgrade (‘Palilula’ and ‘Zemun’) for allowing them to conduct this study using their patients and facilities. They would also like to thank all participants for taking interest in the study.

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Source of funding

The authors have received no funding for this article. T.G. receives a grant from Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia [no. 175087].