The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (PCOSQ): a validation

We wished to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Questionnaire (PCOSQ), a questionnaire developed to measure the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

To assess reliability and validity, women recruited from an outpatient gynaecology clinic at the Jessop Wing, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield completed two copies of the PCOSQ and the Short Form-36 (SF-36). Secondary factor analysis was carried out to verify the composition of the dimensions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to assess face validity.

Of the 92 women who consented, 82 women (89%) returned questionnaires at time 1, and 69 women (75%) returned questionnaires at time 2. All five PCOSQ dimensions were internally reliable with Cronbach's alpha scores ranging from 0.70 to 0.97. Intra-class correlation coefficients to evaluate test-retest reliability were high (range 0.89-0.95, P < 0.001). Construct validity was demonstrated by high correlations for all comparisons of similar scales of the SF-36 and PCOSQ (0.49 and 0.54). Acne was identified as an important area of HRQoL missing from the questionnaire.

The PCOSQ is a reliable instrument for measuring the HRQoL in women with PCOS. However, the validity of the questionnaire needs to be improved by incorporating a dimension on acne into the instrument.