Validation of the Polish version of the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to develop a Polish language version of the short form of the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI-20) and to validate it in a sample of Polish-speaking women with pelvic floor disorders (PFDs).

METHODS: The PFDI-20 was initially translated in a stepwise fashion as guided by the International Urogynecological Association (IUGA) Translation Protocol. After initial forward translation from English to Polish, a community review process consisting of cognitive interviews and confirmation via back translation was performed. The final Polish version of the PFDI-20 was administered to Polish-speaking patients presenting with PFDs at university-based urogynecology clinics in Poland and the United States, along with a Polish version of the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ). Internal consistency and criterion validity were assessed. Test-retest reliability was assessed in 100 patients after 2 weeks.

RESULTS: A total of 254 women with PFDs enrolled in this multicenter study. Complete data from 44 Polish-speaking women in the United States and 200 women in Poland were analyzed. Participants had a mean age of 60.3 ± 11.2 years and mean body mass index (BMI) 27.6 ± 4.7. Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's alpha was good (0.89). Criterion validity was adequate between responses on the KHQ and PFDI-20 with Pearson correlations in particular domains (0.27-0.50, P < 0.05). Excellent test-retest reliability was demonstrated by intraclass correlation using a two-way mixed-effects model with absolute agreement (0.87).

CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the PFDI is a reliable tool for evaluating pelvic floor symptoms in Polish-speaking women with PFDs.