Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) in the Malay language-translation and validation in a multiethnic population of Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Background The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) is an internationally used tool to measure menopause-related symptoms and to date it is unavailable in the Malay language. We aimed to translate and validate the Malay language version of the MRS. Methods Translation of the English version of MRS into Malay was done by a bilingual expert and back translated. Translated version of MRS was reviewed by a panel to determine the face validity. A sample of 321 women aged 40–60 years residing in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia was selected by stratified random sampling method in a house-to-house survey. The Malay language version of MRS was self-administered. Reliability analyses, including test–retest reliability (on 30 women after a two-week interval) were conducted. To ascertain the construct validity, 11 items were analyzed confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the structural model fit of the Malay language version of MRS. Results A total of 294 (91.6%) completed the survey and their mean age was 50.9 years (SD = 6.3). An overall Cronbach’s alpha for MRS was 0.904. Cronbach’s alpha for psychosomatic, urogenital, and somatovegetative subscales were 0.889, 0.846, and 0.776 respectively. The corrected item correlations were approximately 0.6 and inter-item correlations were between 0.3 and 0.9. On exploratory structural equation modelling, the chi-square test of goodness of fit yielded a significant value; χ2 = 78.4, df = 25, p < 0.001, (reported if N > 200). Additionally, the value of Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.954showed a good fit to the model. Conclusion The translated English version of the Menopause Rating Scale into the Malay language showed excellent reliability, test–retest reliability, and construct validity. The instrument can be used to assess menopause-related symptoms among Malaysian women.

Health-Seeking Behaviors and Treatments Received for Menopause Symptoms: A Questionnaire Survey among Midlife Women Attending Primary Healthcare Clinics in Malaysia

“…Nevertheless, it should be noted that 3 of these studies [ 5 24 ] used the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) [ 25 ] while Dhillon et al [ 22 ] developed their questionnaire in the Malay language. MRS used in Malaysian studies were not translated and validated into Malay language but a validated Malay version of MRS has become available [ 26 ]. The number of items in MQ6(M) is less than MRS, yet it captured the common menopausal symptoms prevalent among midlife Malaysian women.…”

Translation and Validation of Menopause Quick 6 (MQ-6) into the Malay language

“…The MRS comparable tool to MQ-6(M) is known to have factor instability when tested in different languages in multi-country versions [10]. Such instabilities in factor structures are known to occur due to sociocultural differences that determine the perceptions of physiological changes that occur during menopause [27]. Due to the binary scale of measurement and a lack of domains of items we did not perform a con rmatory factor analysis to determine factor structure.…”

“…The reliability of a proposed new instrument in the Malay language has an acceptable internal consistency as recommended though a higher value is desirable for an instrument to assess MQ-6(M) intended for use in primary care settings [24,25]. A comparable tool for menopausal symptom assessment MRS in Indonesian Bahasa[26] and Malay language [27] though had a higher reliability than a newly proposed MQ-6(M). However.…”