Validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the ICIQ-UI SF and ICIQ-LUTSqol in the Malaysian population

AIMS: To enable the use of the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF) and ICIQ-Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Quality of Life (ICIQ-LUTSqol) in Southeast Asia, we translated and subsequently evaluated their validity (content and discriminant validity), reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability), and responsiveness in female patients with stress urinary incontinence.

METHODS: Permission was obtained to translate the English versions into Malay and subsequently validate them, and to validate the existing Chinese versions. The translated questionnaires were taken for pilot testing. Validation was carried out for the face/content and discriminant validity. Reliability was assessed for test-retest and internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient respectively. The responsiveness was calculated via effect size and standardized response mean.

RESULTS: Ten patients were recruited for the pilot testing. The English and Chinese versions had "substantial" or "almost perfect" agreement as measured by weighted Kappa. 284 participants (139 patients with stress urinary incontinence and 145 healthy volunteers) were included in the subsequent phases. The ICIQ-UI SF and ICIQ-LUTSqol had good discriminant validity. The ICIQ-UI SF had moderate internal consistency although the ICIQ-LUTSqol had good internal consistency. Both questionnaires had high test-retest reliability. Responsiveness was established with a moderate to large effect size and a standardized response mean.

CONCLUSIONS: The English, Chinese, and Malay versions each proved to be valid and reliable in our Malaysian population, thereby enabling more cross-cultural research in this region. Neurourol. Neurourol. Urodynam. 36:438-442, 2017. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.