A new inventory to measure the sexual and psychological burden of women with pelvic floor complaints

Background: Women with pelvic floor complaints tend to experience sexual functioning problems
and psychological burdens. To be able to optimize pelvic healthcare and meet women’s needs during
treatment, it could be helpful to specifically assess women’s sexual and psychological burden with
pelvic floor complaints. Therefore, a new instrument is developed to measure this burden that
appears to be more severe and predictive for women who seek help. To identify relevant items to
populate such an instrument a comprehensive and rigorous psychometric assessment of the various
aspects and dimensions of sexual and psychological burden is needed. In previous research, a
comprehensive overview was yielded of women’s restrictions and distress with pelvic floor
complaints, and a conceptual model was developed of seven types of distress that were represented
by 33 statements. The present study was performed to investigate the psychometric properties of the
new instrument, termed the Psychological Burden Inventory.
Method: In an online survey data was collected from 541 women with pelvic floor complaints. The
internal consistency of the items was tested, Principal Component and Confirmatory Factor
Analyses were performed, and the convergent and divergent validity of the types of distress was
examined against existing questionnaires. In addition, the homogeneity of the emergent factors was
examined to affirm the construct validity of the new instrument.
Results: Outcomes show excellent internal consistency, three components, six subscales,
satisfactory convergent and divergent validity, and a homogeneous scale.
Conclusion: This new measure appears to be a promising tool to inventory women’s sexual and
psychological burdens when having pelvic floor complaints. The use of this instrument could
enhance collaboration between pelvic health professionals, and improve women’s pelvic healt