A short-form questionnaire identified genital organ prolapse

Tegerstedt, Gunilla; Miedel, Ann; Maehle-Schmidt, Marianne; Nyren, Olof; Hammarström, Margareta

doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2004.06.008

« Previous Next »Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume 58, Issue 1 , Pages 41-46, January 2005

A short-form questionnaire identified genital organ prolapse

Gunilla Tegerstedt
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Söder Hospital, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
- Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department KI, Söder Hospital, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
- Corresponding author. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Söder Hospital, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden. Tel.: +44 8 616 26 46; fax: +44 8 616 43 93.
Ann Miedel
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Söder Hospital, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
Marianne Maehle-Schmidt
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
Olof Nyren
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
- Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department KI, Söder Hospital, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
Margareta Hammarström
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Söder Hospital, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
- Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department KI, Söder Hospital, Stockholm S-118 83, Sweden
- Octaviakliniken, Tideliusgatan 22, 11869 Stockholm

Accepted 9 June 2004.

Abstract

Objective

We constructed a simple questionnaire that, with a minimum of questions, could accurately and reliably identify women with genital organ prolapse.

Study design and setting

Two hundred women with confirmed genital organ prolapse and 199 outpatients with various gynecologic symptoms but no objective prolapse answered 13 questions perceived to be valuable for the diagnosis. With stepwise backward logistic regression, the discriminatory ability of a successively abbreviated set of questions was assessed. The resulting short questionnaire was tested in a new population-based sample of 282 women participating in a screening survey.

Results

A final five-item questionnaire retained 94% of the predictive value of all 13 questions and had 92.5% sensitivity and 94.5% specificity in the first group of women. When the questionnaire was used in the subsequent population-based survey, the sensitivity and specificity values were 66.5% and 94.2%, respectively. Most missed cases had stage I prolapse.

Conclusion

Although the sensitivity of the test was moderate, the specificity, and hence the ability to rule in cases, was satisfactory. The test is suitable for case finding in epidemiologic studies.

Keywords: Questionnaire, Genital organ prolapse, Validation, Prolapse-related symptoms