Adaptation of the Utian quality of life scale to Portuguese using a community sample of Portuguese women in premenopause, perimenopause, and postmenopause.

OBJECTIVE

The present study aims to validate a climacteric-specific measure of global quality of life, namely, the Utian Quality of Life Scale (UQoLS), in a community sample of women with different menopause status.

METHODS

A community sample of 1,003 Portuguese women in premenopause, perimenopause, and postmenopause filled out UQoLS, the Menopause Symptoms' Severity Inventory, and the Subjective Well-Being Scale. Menopause status was determined according to Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop criteria. Sociodemographic, health, and menopause-related information was also collected. PASW Statistics (version 19) and AMOS (version 18) were used to perform the analysis.

RESULTS

The final structure with 22 items, organized into four factors, showed overall good psychometric properties (factor analysis, discriminant validity, external validity, criterion validity, reliability, and sensitivity). In this Portuguese version, item 20 was excluded because it manifested associations with several other items and different factors; moreover, it presented modification indices well above the admissible value.

CONCLUSIONS

This research emphasizes that UQoLS has good psychometric properties in its Portuguese version and can be a sound instrument for asserting quality of life during climacteric.