Dutch Translation, Cultural Adaption, and Validation of the German Pelvic Floor Questionnaire for Pregnant and Postpartum Women

Introduction and Hypothesis: Pregnancy and childbirth are important risk factors for developing pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD). A valid and reliable screening instrument is essential for timely identification and treatment of PFD. The German Pelvic Floor Questionnaire for Pregnant and Postpartum women (PFQ-PP) assesses symptoms, severity, and impact on quality of life for the bladder function, bowel function, prolapse, and sexual health domain. However, no similar questionnaire exists in Dutch. This study was aimed at translating, culturally adapting, and validating the German PFQ-PP for use in the Netherlands, resulting in the Dutch PFQ-PP.

Methods: A forward–backward translation method was used to translate and cross-culturally adapt the German PFQ-PP. Content validity was assessed by an expert committee of seven health care professionals who reviewed the translated version, and by using semi-structured cognitive interviews with four pregnant and five postpartum women. For field testing, 202 pregnant and postpartum women completed the questionnaire twice, with a 1-week interval to assess test–retest reliability, measurement error, and known group validity.

Results: The Dutch PFQ-PP demonstrated good content validity both in health care professionals and in pregnant and postpartum women. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.82 to 0.92. Standard errors of measurement ranged from 0.38 to 0.60 for the four domains (all domain scores ranging from 0 to 10). The questionnaire discriminated as expected between women suffering from symptoms and those who do not.

Conclusions: The Dutch PFQ-PP is valid and reliable in assessing bladder function, bowel function, prolapse, and sexual health in pregnant and postpartum women.