Objective: To assess the psychometric performance of the 4 week recall version of the Uterine Fibroid Symptom and Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire (UFS-QoL), a patient measure of the severity of uterine fibroid (UF) symptoms and their impact on health-related quality of life (HRQL).
Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of phase 2a data from pre-menopausal women with heavy menstrual bleeding associated with UF. Participants completed the UFS-QoL at Baseline, Treatment Month 3, and Follow-up Month 3 and a daily diary with a Menstrual Bleeding Scale and the UF Daily Symptom Scale throughout the study duration. Descriptive statistics were performed on patient demographic characteristics; analyses were conducted to assess the internal consistency reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the UFS-QoL 4 week recall version.
Results: A total of 271 women were enrolled with a mean age of 41.8 years; 74% were black. The UFS-QoL demonstrated excellent internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach's alpha coefficient values >0.70 for each subscale at each study visit. Results indicated good concurrent validity with the UF Daily Symptom Scale items. The women with amenorrhea at Treatment Month 3 had significantly better scores on all UFS-QoL subscales and HRQL Total than women with menstrual bleeding, indicating acceptable discriminant validity. Mean subscale change scores from Baseline to Treatment Month 3 were 19.2 to 39.8. Effect sizes were moderate to large (0.53 to 1.86), demonstrating responsiveness to change.
Limitations: As this study is a post hoc validation of the 4 week recall UFS-QOL, it is limited to the clinical trial data available and does not include a direct comparison to the 3 month recall version of UFS-QOL.
Conclusions: The 4 week recall version of the UFS-QoL demonstrated good internal consistency reliability, concurrent validity, and responsiveness and is psychometrically comparable to the original 3 month recall UFS-QoL.
Clinical trial registration: Data from a phase 2a, cohort design proof of concept study (trial M12-663); ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01441635. Date of Registration: 6 September 2011.
Keywords: HRQL; HRQoL; Health-related quality of life; UFS-QoL; psychometric validation; recall period; uterine fibroids.