[Validation of a questionnaire to evaluate the female sexual function in postmenopausal women].

PURPOSE to generate and validate a proper questionnaire to evaluate the sexual function in post-menopause women. METHODS 251 women, within 2 to 15 years postmenopause, were included in the study. Questionnaire's reproductibility/reliability was evaluated by Pearson, intraclass and Lin's correlation coefficients. The internal consistance was examined by the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Classical item theory guidelines were used for face, content and construct validation. RESULTS an instrument with 57 items and nine domains was generated. Fourteen questions (24.5%) were eliminated by either poor correlation with the scale or low discriminative power. The final version with 43 items has shown good reproductibility (r=0.719, 95%CI=0.690-0.750; pc=0.887; 95%CI=0.850-0.930; p<0.001). Internal consistance was also adequate (alpha=0.951). About 60% of the reviewers have confirmed face and content validation. The construct validation was assessed by the Cronbach alpha 0.951. CONCLUSIONS it was concluded that the new instrument is appropriate for evaluating the sexual function in post-menopause women.