Performance of the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire in Canada

The Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ) was developed in the US and has been shown to be a valid and reliable measure of how urinary incontinence (UI) affects a woman's quality of life. This study aimed to test the performance of the IIQ in Canada with English and French-speaking Canadians. The IIQ underwent professional forwards-backwards translation and psychometric testing. Women (36 English and 34 French-speaking) consulting a urologist for stress urinary incontinence underwent routine multichannel urodynamic testing and completed the SF-36 and the IIQ. Test-retest reliability was moderate (ICC =.73) and each IIQ subscale demonstrated good internal consistency (a=.83 to.91). Moderate correlations between IIQ scores and number of pads/day and severity ratings support construct validity in both languages. In English, correlations with Physical and Social Functioning scales of the SF-36 were also moderate. The IIQ has demonstrated strong reliability and adequate validity with English-speaking Canadian women. Moreover, similar psychometric properties in both English and French provide evidence that the IIQ has been successfully translated into Canadian French.