Introduction and hypothesis: The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt and validate the Serbian version of the Australian pelvic floor questionnaire.
Methods: The Australian pelvic floor questionnaire was translated according to the standard method of back-translation. Women who presented with pelvic floor disorders completed the Serbian version of the Australian pelvic floor questionnaire. Women were subjected to clinical and gynecological assessment including physical examination, cough stress test, pelvic prolapse anatomical assessment using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification system, and post-void residual volume. Reliability and divergent validity was performed on 76 patients with significant pelvic floor dysfunction and 23 women without pelvic floor dysfunction. Patients repeated the questionnaire after 4 weeks.
Results: High reliability was observed in all four dimensions (Cronbach's alpha coefficients were above 0.8 for each dimension: bladder 0.846, bowel 0.822, prolapse 0.842, and sexual function 0.823). Test-retest analyses revealed high reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficients were above 0.9). Prolapse symptom score correlated significantly with pelvic organ quantification and bladder score correlated significantly with the results of the cough stress test (convergent validity). Scores distinguished between patients with pelvic floor disorders and controls (high discriminant validity).
Conclusions: The Serbian version of the Australian pelvic floor questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for assessment of quality of life in women with pelvic floor disorders.