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Electronic pelvic floor symptoms assessment: tests of data quality of ePAQ-PF

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Abstract

The objective of the study was to test the data quality, scaling assumptions and scoring algorithms underlying the electronic personal assessment questionnaire—pelvic floor (ePAQ-PF). A cross-sectional survey of 599 women with pelvic floor disorders was carried out. Tests of data quality included secondary factor analysis, internal reliability, descriptive statistics, levels of missing data, floor and ceiling effects, item-to-total correlation scores, item discriminant and convergent validity. Secondary factor analysis verified the domain structure of ePAQ-PF. All 19 domains were internally reliable with Cronbach’s α scores ranging from 0.71 to 0.93. Missing response rates ranged from 0.2% to 1.3%, and all items were found to be most highly correlated with their own corrected scale. Results confirmed the factor structure, data quality and scoring and scaling assumptions of ePAQ-PF, thereby verifying its suitability for measuring symptoms, bother and quality of life in women with pelvic floor disorders.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the women who completed the questionnaire and gave consent for their data to be used in the study. We would also like to thank Mr. Andrew Farkas for his assistance with recruitment.

Conflicts of interest

G.L.J, J.L. and S.J. have no conflicts of interests to declare. S.C.R. is a director of EPAQ Systems, a newly formed NHS spin-out technology company.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Services Research Section, ScHARR, University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 30 Regent Street, Sheffield, S1 4DA, UK

    G. L. Jones

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Jessop Wing, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, Sheffield, S10 2SF, UK

    S. C. Radley

  3. University of Sheffield, Beech Hill Road, Sheffield, S10 2R, UK

    J. Lumb

  4. Urogynaecology, Birmingham Women’s Hospital, 12 Metfield Croft, Birmingham, B17 0AA, UK

    S. Jha

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  1. G. L. Jones
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  2. S. C. Radley
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  3. J. Lumb
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  4. S. Jha
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Correspondence to G. L. Jones.

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Jones, G.L., Radley, S.C., Lumb, J. et al. Electronic pelvic floor symptoms assessment: tests of data quality of ePAQ-PF. Int Urogynecol J 19, 1337–1347 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-008-0655-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-008-0655-2

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