Body image in the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Questionnaire: development and validation

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a prolapse-specific body image questionnaire.

Prolapse-specific body image themes that were identified in our previous work served as a framework for the development of a question pool. After review for face and content validity and reading level, the question pool was reduced to 21 items that represent predominant themes and that form the initial Body Image in Pelvic Organ Prolapse (BIPOP) questionnaire. Women with symptomatic prolapse of Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POPQ) of more than stage II were enrolled from 2 academic urogynecology practices; they completed questionnaires on pelvic floor symptoms and distress, general body image, depression, self-esteem, and the BIPOP questionnaire, and they underwent the POPQ. We field-tested the BIPOP questionnaire with approximately 200 participants; 10 women completed cognitive interviews, and 100 women repeated the BIPOP questionnaire to assess test-retest reliability.

Two hundred eleven participants were enrolled, and 201 women had complete data. Participants had mean age of 60.2 ± 10.5 years, were predominantly white (98%), were partnered (80%), and had median POPQ stage III. Cognitive interviews confirmed comprehension and clarity of questions and acceptability of length and subject matter. Exploratory factor analysis was performed in an iterative process until a parsimonious, 10-item scale with 2 subscales was identified (subscale 1 represented general attractiveness; subscale 2 represented partner-related prolapse reactions). Cronbach's α score for the subscales were 0.90 (partner) and 0.92 (attractiveness). Correlations between related questionnaires and BIPOP subscales were strong and directionally appropriate. Test-retest correlations on both total and subscale measurements were high.

We developed and validated a prolapse-specific body image measurement that has face and content validity, high internal consistency, strong correlation with general prolapse and body image measures, and strong test-retest reliability.