Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory Short Form (PFDI-20) and Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire Short Form (PFIQ-7) Portuguese Versions

Introduction: Throughout life, the characteristics of a woman's pelvic floor change due to physiological changes, including pregnancy, childbirth and menopause. These changes can predispose them to pelvic floor dysfunction. Objectives: To develop a linguistically and psychometrically adapted Portuguese (European) version of the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI-20) and Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ-7), for assessing symptoms and quality of life in women with pelvic floor dys-function. Methods: A translation method was applied to convert the PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 into (European) Portuguese, and their validity and reliability were tested. The Portuguese versions were completed by 287 women. Internal consistency (IC) was assessed by Cronbach's alpha (CA). Descriptive statistics and tests for inference were applied: Spearman's correlation (r) and Student's t-test. Results: The Portuguese ver-sions of PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 were effectively translated and adjusted, revealing excel-lent internal consistency, as reflected in Cronbach's alpha values of 0.853 for PFDI-20 and 0.937 for PFIQ-7. No Ceiling Effect was observed, while a Floor Effect was identi-fied in both Portuguese versions of the PFDI-20 (5.2%) and PFIQ-7 (41.5%). Significant correlations were established between the instruments and five questions. Conclusion: The Portuguese versions of the PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 showed adequate psychometric characteristics and are valid for use in the Portuguese population.