Transcultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire in the Kazakh population

Introduction: Sexual dysfunction associated with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is common and validated questionnaires for assessment are recommended. Aim: To develop and validate the Kazakh-translated version of the female sexual function index (Kz-FSFI). Methods: Kz-FSFI was translated from the original version for validation, and its precision was ascertained through reverse translation by an expert team. 35 sexually active females participated in an evaluation of the test-retest reliability of the Kazakh version over a two-week period. In the next stage, 110 healthy women and 40 patients with POP aged 18-55 years were enrolled in the study. The validity, internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability of the questionnaires were assessed. Results: The cross-cultural adaptation of Kz-FSFI achieved good semantic, conceptual, idiomatic and content equivalence. The test-retest reliability was shown to be high in all of the cases (p<0.001). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for total and domain scores were sufficiently high (range 0.85-0.94) for the total sample. The discriminant validity showed statistically significant differences between patients with POP-associated sexual dysfunctions and the control group. Conclusions: Kz-FSFI questionnaire is a valuable tool for screening women with sexual dysfunction. As this questionnaire had validity in the Kazakhstan survey, it could be used for medical counselling and future investigation in our country.