Psychometric properties of the Sexual Adjustment Questionnaire (SAQ) in the Iranian population with spinal cord injury

Abstract

Study design This is a cross-sectional study Objectives The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Sexual Adjustment Questionnaire (SAQ) for Iranian people with spinal cord injury Setting This study was conducted in the brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Methods We assessed the psychometric properties of the SAQ, with 200 participants (men = 146, women = 54) completing the scale. An evaluation of its test–retest reliability was performed over a 2-weeks period, on a subsample of 30 patients recruited from the overall group. Cronbach’s α-coefficient was computed for assessment of internal consistency reliability. In addition, content and face validity were examined by an expert committee. Construct validity was assessed by examining convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, exploratory factor analysis was used to extract the factor structure of the questionnaire. Results The Cronbach’s α and intraclass correlation coefficient were 0.77 and 0.72 retrospectively. With regard to construct validity, there was a significant (P = 0.009) negative correlation (r = − 0.28) between the SAQ score and age. Those with lower levels of educations scored significantly lower on the SAQ (P = 0.04). The exploratory factor analysis indicated a four-factor structure for the questionnaire, accounting for 68.9% of the observed variance. The expert committee approved the face and content validity of the developed measure. Conclusion The SAQ is a valid measure for assessing sexual adjustment in people with spinal cord injury. The evaluation of sexual well-being may be useful in clinical trials and practical settings.

Spinal cord injury and women’s sexual life: case–control study

“…10,11 However, several invaluable studies have reported sexually related problems in women with SCI. 12–14 On the basis of recent studies, the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction is estimated to be 87.6% for Iranian women with SCI, and lack of vaginal lubrication was found to be the women's main sexual dysfunction.…”

Instrumentos de avaliação da sexualidade em homens e mulheres após a lesão medular

“…Após a leitura na íntegra dos estudos, foi encontrado um total de 11 artigos que preencheram os critérios de inclusão e foram utilizados na presente revisão. Além disso, foram incluídos 7 estudos através da busca manual, totalizando na presente pesquisa um total de Os instrumentos específicos validados para avaliação da sexualidade em indivíduos com lesão medular utilizados em seis estudos 6,7,[18][19][20][21] foram: Male Sexual Quotient (MSQ), Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM), Sexual Adjustment Questionnaire (SAQ), Sexual Attitude and Information Questionnaire (SAIQ), "Perceived Sexual Distress Scale" (PSDS), "International SCI male sexual function" e "female sexual and reproductive function" (SR-iSCI-sexual function), Questionário de Sexualidade Humana na Lesão Medular (QSH-LM) e Sexual health measures (SHM). Nesses estudos, foram investigadas as seguintes propriedades de medida: validade e confiabilidade (Quadro 2).…”

“…A população mais prevalente foi de apenas homens 1,6,8,10,15,22 ou de homens e mulheres, sendo nesse caso a porcentagem de mulheres menor. 7,12,13,[16][17][18][19][20][21] Essa prevalência de homens pode ser decorrente da predominância masculina entre os indivíduos traumaticamente lesados e também pelo fato de que a disfunção sexual feminina pode ser considerada menos problemática para as mulheres do que para os homens, pois ainda existe a crença de que as mulheres possuem um papel passivo na relação sexual. 4 É possível identificar na literatura uma lacuna entre os estudos que investigam a sexualidade em mulheres com lesão medular.…”

“…Foi observado com os estudos incluídos, 6,7,18-21 que investigaram propriedades de medida, que elementos da confiabilidade foram definidos para todos os instrumentos, entretanto apenas dois estudos 18,20 aprofundaram na validade. Foram observados valores satisfatórios de confiabilidade para todos os instrumentos investigados.…”

Measuring Sexual Performance: Development and Psychometric Properties of the Sexual Performance Questionnaire in Iranian People with Spinal Cord Injury

“…Sexual activity is a result of a dyadic relationship and solitary desire among able or disabled adults [1][2][3]. The term sexual activity includes all actions and responses related to experiences with a sexual motivation, from holding hands or kissing to sexual intercourse; sexual interest and performance are not limited to genital sex [4].…”