Responsiveness of two sexual function questionnaires: PISQ-IR and FSFI in women with pelvic floor disorders

To assess responsiveness of sexual function questionnaires: Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire, IUGA-Revised (PISQ-IR) and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) in women with pelvic floor disorders (PFD).

The study included 261 subjects who completed PISQ-IR and FSFI at baseline and after treatment (median: 8 months). Standardized response mean (SRM) and effect size (ES) were calculated for sexually active (SA) and not-SA (NSA) women. Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) was applied to assess treatment outcomes.

A total of 184 women reported "very much better"/"much better" on the PGI-I scale posttreatment and were enrolled for further study. After treatment, 21.7% of the NSA women resumed sexual activity, 13.9% of the initially SA-abstained, and no change was reported for 152 (82.6%) subjects (87-SA and 65-NSA). Significant improvement in PISQ-IR SA domains was observed, with mild responsiveness for Arousal/Orgasm (SRM = 0.34, ES = 0.29, p = .003) and good responsiveness for Condition Specific, Global Quality and Summary Score (SRM = 0.51, ES = 0.50; SRM = 0.54, ES = 0.47; SRM = 0.75, ES = 0.63, p < .001). The Condition Impact domain demonstrated excellent responsiveness (SRM = 1.13, ES = 1.17, p < .001). In NSA, PISQ-IR had good responsiveness in Condition Impact (SRM = -0.76, ES = -0.59, p < .001), and mild in Condition Specific (SRM = -0.30, ES = -0.28, p < .03) domains. In FSFI, posttreatment sexual function in SA was improved in Desire, Arousal, Orgasm, Satisfaction, Pain domains and Total score, proving mild responsiveness (SRM, 0.24-0.48; p < .04). In NSA, FSFI proved nonresponsive.

PISQ-IR and FSFI are responsive tools, useful to investigate the effects of treatment on sexual function in SA (both questionnaires) and NSA (only PISQ-IR) women with PFD.