Adaptation and validation of the King's Health Questionnaire in Portuguese women with urinary incontinence.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS

Urinary incontinence (UI) in women is a problem of public health with psychological repercussions in various contexts of life. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) in women with UI to Portugal.

METHODS

For the adaptation, a multistep forward-back translation protocol was used. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were used to validate the KHQ. The evaluation of the psychometric properties involved the assessment of validity, reliability, and test-retest stability in 103 women. A factor analysis was conducted to explore the underlying factor structure of KHQ. Inter-domain correlation was calculated for convergent and discriminant validity assessment.

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors "personal limitations and daily life", "emotions and social relationships" and "urinary symptoms". Indicators of test-retest stability showed almost perfect agreement with a mean intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.937. Internal consistency was found to be high (Cronbach's alfa > 0.7). Furthermore, the Portuguese version of the KHQ significantly correlates with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, supporting construct validity.

CONCLUSIONS

The Portuguese version of the KHQ was found to be a valid and reliable measure of the quality of life in women with UI in Portugal, being relevant to both clinical practice and research.