Examining Psychometric Characteristics of a Menopausal Health Questionnaire: Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Persian Version

INTRODUCTION Menopause is a natural event in a woman's life which affects her general health and quality of life. However, currently there is no Persian instrument for measuring health status during this period. Therefore, the present study was performed to assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Menopausal Health Questionnaire in Iran. METHODS The questionnaire was translated to Persian with the approach of Jones et al and its validity was assessed by a panel of experts. The Persian version was tested among 300 patients who had referred to the gynecological clinic at the Ali ibn Abi Talib Hospital in Zahedan. Convenience method was used for sampling. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess construct validity of collected data. Test-retest method was used to determine reliability in two-week intervals and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to check the internal consistency. RESULTS According to research findings, the exploratory factor analysis showed an acceptable fitness. Varimax rotation indicated 6 factors with Eagan values more than 1, which explained 49.27% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the entire tool was 0.84 and it was from 0.50 to 0.82 for the subcategories. All factors had a significant case-total correlation. Results of test-retest showed the stability of the questionnaire and its subcategories, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was assessed to be 0.93. CONCLUSIONS The 14-item Menopausal Health Questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument to assess postmenopausal women's health.