Development and psychometric evaluation of a quality of life questionnaire for infertile women: a mixed method study

Abstract

Background Infertility is one of the most important issues that negatively influences women’s quality of life, especially when the cause is associated with females. Given that no instruments have been designed to assess quality of life among infertile women with focus on female factors, this study was conducted to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a female-centric quality of life questionnaire for infertile women. Method This sequential exploratory study was conducted in two stages. First, the concept of quality of life and its dimensions as they relate to infertile women were elucidated through a qualitative inquiry accompanied with a content analysis. Accordingly, infertile women and key informants from a teaching hospital affiliated with the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences and a private center for infertility treatment in Sari (north of Iran) were screened through purposive sampling until data saturation. Those who satisfied the inclusion criteria and exhibited maximum variance in terms of age, educational level, employment status, infertility duration, treatment type, and social class were recruited. The conventional content analysis was carried out in accordance with the steps proposed by Graneheim and Lundman, and the accuracy and robustness of the data were verified using Lincoln and Guba’s criteria (credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability and authenticity). Second, the psychometric properties of the instrument developed in the qualitative stage were evaluated using a quantitative method and on the basis of the results of a literature review. The content, face, and construct validity of the instrument was determined, and its test–retest reliability and stability were ascertained using internal correlation and Cronbach’s alpha. The collected data were entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 22) for analysis, and descriptive statistics were calculated. Discussion Developing and evaluating the psychometric properties of a valid and reliable female factor-centric instrument that measures quality of life among infertile women will be very useful in the assessment of their future status.

Psychometric Properties of Modified MOS Social Support Survey 5-item (MSSS-5 item) among Iranian Older Adults

“…Content validity index was assessed for each item by answering to the 4-Point Likert scale (1= not relevant, 2= item needs major revision, 3= relevant but needs minor revision, and 4= completely relevant) and calculated by dividing the number of experts giving a rating of '3' or '4' to each statement by the total number of experts [45][46][47]. A CVI score over 0.79 was considered as adequate [46]. Scale-CVI was calculated based on S-CVI/Avg, where the sum of I-CVI divided by their numbers [45].…”

“…Standard error measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable change (MDC95) were used to calculate absolute reliability as follows [46,48]:…”

“…It is essential to evaluate chance agreement when there are several raters. So the present study used the modified Kappa statistic (K*) which designed by Polit et al K*>0.74 is considered as excellent[43] and calculated by following formula:[46,48]…”

Investigating different dimensions of infertile women’s quality of life: a descriptive cross-sectional study

“…On the one hand, general tools are not suitable for measuring changes in illness or health problems and, on the other, specific tools ignore the type of infertility factor which, according to the literature review, can affect the quality of life. Given the significance of accurate measurement of the quality of life dimensions in infertile women with the female factor, we decided to use a standard tool designed for assessing the quality of life of infertile women with female factor and examine the different dimensions of the quality of life of infertile women with the female factor [ 23 ]. The quality of life questionnaire for infertile women (QOL-QIW) measures the quality of life and its aspects by the seven dimensions of the questionnaire, including 1) Psychologic; 2) Sexual life; 3) Family and social; 4) Infertility-related concerns; 5) Physical; 6) Adaptive approaches; and 7) Preventive factors of adaptation [ 23 ].…”

“…Given the significance of accurate measurement of the quality of life dimensions in infertile women with the female factor, we decided to use a standard tool designed for assessing the quality of life of infertile women with female factor and examine the different dimensions of the quality of life of infertile women with the female factor [ 23 ]. The quality of life questionnaire for infertile women (QOL-QIW) measures the quality of life and its aspects by the seven dimensions of the questionnaire, including 1) Psychologic; 2) Sexual life; 3) Family and social; 4) Infertility-related concerns; 5) Physical; 6) Adaptive approaches; and 7) Preventive factors of adaptation [ 23 ]. This tool helps to show the needs in different dimensions of these women's quality of life and also to plan future needs-based interventions to improve the women's quality of life.…”