VALIDATION AND TRANSLATION OF THE ESTRO-ANDROGENIC-SYMPTOM QUESTIONNAIRE IN WOMEN INTO THE PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE

• Grant number: 21/12925-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Maternal and Child Health
• Principal Investigator: Cássia Raquel Teatin Juliato
• Grantee: Ana Aline Coelho Oswaldo
• Host Institution: Centro de Atenção Integral à Saúde da Mulher (CAISM). Hospital da Mulher Professor Doutor José Aristodemo Pinotti. Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause syndrome is a common problem in the female population, with high prevalence rates and a significant impact on women's quality of life. The assessment of menopausal symptoms is extremely important and an easy-to-understand and self-administered questionnaire that addresses a variety of symptoms related to menopause in Portuguese can better guide treatment and research in the area. The questionnaire ESTRO-ANDROGENIC-SYMPTOM QUESTIONNAIRE IN WOMEN (EASQ-W) includes the prevalence of symptoms (vasomotor, psychological symptoms, insomnia, muscle and joint discomfort, sexual function and urogenital symptoms), in addition to being an easy-to-understand and self-applicable.. Objective: To translate and culturally validate the EASQ-W questionnaire into Portuguese. Subjects and methods: We will perform a cross-sectional study with postmenopausal women and menacme controls at the Menopause and Surgical Gynecology Outpatient Clinic (case group) and Family Planning (control group). Women who agree to participate in the study will answer the questionnaire on symptoms resulting from the lack of estrogens and androgens and a form on sociodemographic data. We will exclude pregnant women, women with behavioral disorders, who do not present cognitive conditions to understand the questionnaire and/or do not know how to read/write. Some women (case group), via a draw, will be recalled by telephone to answer the questionnaire again. A group of 30 women will be treated with hormonal therapy and a new questionnaire will be applied in 90 days. During the application of the questionnaires, demographic data of the women interviewed will be collected, such as: age, weight, height, BMI, education, number of pregnancies and deliveries, self-reported color, menopausal status, time of menopause, profession, pathologies and previous surgeries. Regarding the psychometric measurement properties of the questionnaire, the variables analyzed will be: reliability, validity and responsiveness. Internal consistency (i.e., degree of interrelationship between items) assessed by Cronbach's alpha index, determined by subscale scores and total score. This coefficient is used to verify the homogeneity of the items, that is, their accuracy. Values between 0.70 and 0.95 are considered adequate internal consistency. Test-retest reliability (i.e., reproduction of repeated measures with similar responses by respondents) assessed by the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Values e0.70 are considered to be of adequate reliability. Content validity - "floor" and "ceiling" effect (i.e., how well the content of a measure is adequate to reflect the global content). This effect runs when e15 % of scores are below or above the end of the scale. Construct validity (i.e., the most fundamental form of validation of an instrument as it checks whether the test measures an attribute or quality that is not operationally defined, checking whether the hypothesis (test) is representative or not of the subjects' latent traits) . The responsiveness (i.e., the measure's ability to check for changes over time). Performed through the application of tests before and after treatment, during the clinical follow-up of patients in the case group. Data analysis: Continuous variables will be described as mean and standard deviation or median/minimum and maximum value. For binomial variables, the chi-square test will be used and Student's t test for continuous variables. For internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha will be calculated and the correlation coefficient, test-retest, the intraclass correlation coefficient will be used. Responsiveness will be analyzed by paired t test or Wilcoxon test, depending on the sample distribution. The data will be tabulated in Microsoft Excel through a spreadsheet and then analyzed using the Intercooled Stata 13.0 program.