Stress incontinence is a common problem that affects the quality of life for women. Taiwan is lacking a Chinese version tool to evaluate the symptom severity and the impact of stress incontinence on women. The purpose of this study was to test the Chinese version of symptom severity index and symptom impact index for female stress incontinence. The Chinese version of the symptom severity index and symptom impact index for female stress incontinence was translated according to the cross cultural adaptation process recommendation. A sample of women (n=83) who experienced stress incontinence in the past year were enrolled with advertisement. After translating the questionnaire, we conducted psychometric testing by internal consistency and criterion-related validity. The UDI-6 and IIQ-7 were used for the testing of criterion-related validity of the Chinese version of symptom severity index and symptom impact index. The scales' overall Cronbach's Alpha (α) was .843. The symptom severity index subscale was .811. The symptom impact index subscale was .862. In terms of the scales' criterion-related validity, the symptom severity index subscale was significantly positively correlated with UDI-6 (r=.653, p=.000). The symptom impact index subscale was also significantly positively correlated with IIQ-7 (r=.702, p=.000). The Chinese version symptom severity index and symptom impact index for female stress incontinence captured the content and meaning of the original questionnaire through the cross cultural adaptation process, and possessed good psychometric properties.
Stress incontinence is a common problem that affects the quality of life for women. Taiwan is lacking a Chinese version tool to evaluate the symptom severity and the impact of stress incontinence on women. The purpose of this study was to test the Chinese version of symptom severity index and symptom impact index for female stress incontinence. The Chinese version of the symptom severity index and symptom impact index for female stress incontinence was translated according to the cross cultural adaptation process recommendation. A sample of women (n=83) who experienced stress incontinence in the past year were enrolled with advertisement. After translating the questionnaire, we conducted psychometric testing by internal consistency and criterion-related validity. The UDI-6 and IIQ-7 were used for the testing of criterion-related validity of the Chinese version of symptom severity index and symptom impact index. The scales' overall Cronbach's Alpha (α) was .843. The symptom severity index subscale was .811. The symptom impact index subscale was .862. In terms of the scales' criterion-related validity, the symptom severity index subscale was significantly positively correlated with UDI-6 (r=.653, p=.000). The symptom impact index subscale was also significantly positively correlated with IIQ-7 (r=.702, p=.000). The Chinese version symptom severity index and symptom impact index for female stress incontinence captured the content and meaning of the original questionnaire through the cross cultural adaptation process, and possessed good psychometric properties.