Introduction: No validated questionnaire that evaluates vaginal symptoms is currently available in the German language. Here, we report the translation and validation process of the German ICIQ-VS. Subjects: Pilot study: 10 patients without any specific disease. Main study: 58 patients (cases) suffering from genital descensus higher than grade 1 pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POPQ) and 51 patients (controls) without vaginal affections. Methods: To establish a cultural-adaptive equivalent in German, recommendations from Guillemin et al. [J Clin Epidemiol 1993;46:1417–1432] were carefully followed. Participants of the main study were asked to fill in the questionnaire at three time points [baseline (T1), 7 days later (T2) and 1 year later (T3)]. Reliability, validity and sensitivity to change were evaluated. Results: In our pilot study, all questionnaire items were correctly interpreted and answered. In the main study, no changes from the original format were observed after translation and cultural adaptation. For the cases, internal consistency was acceptable (Cronbach’s alpha 0.72–0.79) and test-retest reliability was moderate to near-perfect for single items (weighted kappa 0.67–0.94). Sensitivity to change and content validity were excellent. Construct validity revealed statistically significant differences between groups. Conclusion: The ICIQ-VS has successfully been translated and validated into the German language.

Introduction: No data regarding sexuality following laparoscopic prolapse surgery are available to date. Our hypothesis is that laparoscopic sacropexy does not influence sexuality negatively, whereas concomitant (vaginal) surgery negatively influences sexuality. Methods: Participants were 132 patients who underwent laparoscopic sacropexy. We compared pre- and postoperative sexual scores by 2 validated questionnaires. Results: The response rate was 84% (111/132). No change in sexual activity was reported after surgery. In the sexually active group (56.8%; 63/111) the impairment of sexuality was significantly reduced in all age groups independently of concomitant vaginal surgery. In the sexually inactive group, only 4.3% (2/48) were inactive because of vaginal symptoms before operation. After the operation these patients stayed inactive; however, 1 reported reasons unrelated to prolapse. Conclusions: Laparoscopic prolapse surgery reduces sexual impairment in sexually active patients. There appears to be no benefit for patients who are not sexually active for reasons related to the prolapse. Concomitant surgery does not affect sexual activity.

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