Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Menopause-Specific Quality-of-Life questionnaire

Abstract

Objective:The Menopause-Specific Quality-of-Life (MENQOL) questionnaire was developed as a specific tool to measure the health-related quality-of-life of postmenopausal women. Thus far, the Chinese version questionnaire has not been subjected to psychometric assessment with a large sample. This study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the MENQOL specific to postmenopausal women in China.Methods:A total of 1,137 menopausal symptomatic and 491 menopausal asymptomatic women from eight cities in China were recruited using a convenience sampling method. Psychometric properties were evaluated by descriptive statistics, validity, and reliability. Reliability was assessed for each subscale of the MENQOL through internal consistency reliability with Cronbach's α and intersubscale correlations. Item-domain correlations, principal components analysis (PCA), and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to determine construct validity. t tests were used to compare the differences between the menopausal symptomatic and asymptomatic women and to evaluate the discriminate validity. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between MENQOL scores and the Kupperman index to assess criterion-related validity.Results:The most common symptoms in Chinese menopausal symptomatic women were “experiencing poor memory” (94.4%), “feeling tired or worn out” (93.8%), “aching in muscle and joints” (89.4%), “low backache” (86.9%), “decrease in physical strength” (86.6%), “aches in back of neck or head” (86.2%), “difficulty sleeping” (83.6%), “accomplishing less than I used to” (83.4%), “feeling a lack of energy” (83.3%), “change in your sexual desire” (81%), and “hot flash” (80.7%) among others. The symptoms of “increased facial hair” were rarely seen (9.9%). The vasomotor domain, as well as psychosocial, physical, and sexual domains showed high reliability (Cronbach's α 0.84, 0.87, 0.89, and 0.86, respectively). Item-domain correlation analysis showed that all items correlated more strongly with their own domains than with other domains. In the PCA, after deleting the “increased facial hair” item, items in the vasomotor, sexual, and psychosocial subscales loaded on their respective domains by and large, and items in the physical subscale divided into two factors. The PCA revealed a latent structure of the Chinese version of MENQOL nearly identical to the original MENQOL domains. The confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the questionnaire fits well with a four-domain model. The MENQOL can discriminate between menopausal symptomatic women with asymptomatic women as it showed good discriminate validity. Criterion-related validity was confirmed by a significant correlation between MENQOL scores and the Kupperman index.Conclusions:This study showed that Chinese version of MENQOL has good psychometric properties and would be suitable to measure the health-related quality-of-life of Chinese menopausal women except for item 21 (increased facial hair).

Psychometric properties of the Menopause Specific Quality of Life questionnaire among Thai women with a history of breast cancer

“…In fact, most participants (N=267) did not have facial hair increase as well as the mean score of the item was rather low (0.18), indicating that it was rarely seen or a very mild symptom in the participants included in this study. This is consistent with published literature that "increased facial hair" and "weight gain" are not prevalent in Asian women (Chen, Lin, Wei, Gao, & Wu, 2007;Nie, Yang, Liu, Zhao, & Wang, 2017;Yim et al, 2015). In particular, Nie et al (2017) reported that the low incidence of increased facial hair in Chinese women is difficult to explain.…”

“…This is consistent with published literature that "increased facial hair" and "weight gain" are not prevalent in Asian women (Chen, Lin, Wei, Gao, & Wu, 2007;Nie, Yang, Liu, Zhao, & Wang, 2017;Yim et al, 2015). In particular, Nie et al (2017) reported that the low incidence of increased facial hair in Chinese women is difficult to explain. Therefore, we decided to remove this item.…”

Cross cultural adaptation and analysis of psychometric properties of Sinhala version of Menopause Rating Scale

“…Discriminant validity was measured by comparison of menopausal symptomatic and asymptomatic women for each item [ 18 ], compared with independent sample t test. Asymptomatic and symptomatic women in this study were based on the severity of menopausal symptoms; absence of symptoms and mild symptoms in five-point Likert scale (0–1) were considered as asymptomatic and other severities (2–4 in Likert scale) were taken as symptomatic women.…”

Prediction of risk of depressive symptoms in menopausal women based on hot flash and sweating symptoms: a multicentre study

“…The overall prevalence was 50.2% (total of 1,691 women), which was lower than the prevalence reported by Nie et al (80.7%) and consistent with the results of our previous study. 33 …”