Reliability and Validation of the Vietnamese Utian Quality-of-Life Scale in Postmenopausal Women

The absence of a culturally adapted instrument to assess menopause-specific quality of life in Vietnamese women limits both clinical practice and research in this population. This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and psychometrically validate the Vietnamese version of the Utian Quality of Life (VN-UQOL) Scale. A cross-sectional design was employed with 384 community-dwelling postmenopausal women aged 46-65 years. The UQOL was translated and adapted following established guidelines, including forward-back translation, expert review, and pilot testing. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, construct validity through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and concurrent validity via Pearson correlations with the Vietnamese Menopause Rating Scale (VN-MRS). The VN-UQOL demonstrated excellent internal consistency, with a total scale Cronbach's alpha of 0.87 and sub-scale alphas ranging from 0.81 to 0.93. Content validity indices (I-CVI, S-CVI) were 1.0. CFA confirmed the original four-factor structure, with all factor loadings exceeding 0.50 and good model fit indices (CFI = 0.921, RMSEA = 0.072). Concurrent validity was supported by significant negative correlations between the VN-UQOL sub-scales and corresponding VN-MRS domains (p < 0.01). The VN-UQOL is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing menopause-specific quality of life in Vietnamese women, providing a valuable tool for clinical practice and research in this underserved population.