Characteristics of the patient reported outcome measures
| Dimensions | Outcome | Name of questionnaire (abbreviation) | Source for the used version of the questionnaire | Ques-tions (n) | (Sub)scales (min-max scores) (Interpretation) | Reliability measures | Demonstrated types of validity |
| Sexual functioning | Sexual pleasure | Quality of Sexual Experience (QSE) | Dutch: Reciprocally translated by Prof Dr E Laan, University of Amsterdam English similar version52 | 8 | Total (8-56) (The higher, the better) | TRR3 total score: r=0.76 TRR per question: r=0.63–0.75 ITC: α range =0.71-.88 IC per question: α=0.71–0.8853* | Known-group validity, convergent validity53* |
| Sexual functioning of women | Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) | Dutch54
English similar version55 | 19 | Total score (2.0–36.0) and six subscales: sexual interest/desire (1.2–6.0), sexual arousal (0.0–6.0), lubrication (0.0–6.0), orgasm (0.0–6.0), sexual satisfaction (0.8–6.0), pain (0.0–6.0) (The higher, the better) | IC per subscale: α=0.87–0.98 IC total: α=0.97 TRR per subscale: r=0.71–0.97 TRR total score: r=0.93 ITC per subscale: 0.59–0.95 ITC total: 34–9556† | Construct validity, Discriminant validity, Divergent validity56† | |
| Sexual functioning of men | International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) | Dutch57
English similar version58 | 15 | Total score (5-75) and five subscales: erectile function (1-30), orgasm (0–10), sexual desire (2-10), sexual satisfaction (0–15), overall satisfaction (2-10) (The higher, the better) | IC per domain: α=0.73–0.99 IC total: α>0.90 TRR total: r=0.82 TRR per item: r=0.64–0.84 ITC per domain: r=0.30–0.76 59* | Construct validity, Discriminant validity, Convergent validity, Divergent validity59* | |
| Personal well-being | Overall quality of life (General health) | EuroQol 5D scale (EQ-5D) | Dutch60
English similar version61 | 6 | Total VAS (0–100) and five subscales: mobility (1-3), self-care (1-3), daily activities (1-3), pain (1-3), mood (1-3) (For total VAS: the higher, the better. For subscales: the lower, the better) | IC of the five domains: α=0.85 62 63* ICC4=0.7864 | Convergent validity, discriminative validity 62* Criterion, concurrent, construct validity65* |
| Fertility quality of life | The fertility quality of life (FertiQol; Core FertiQol without treatment module) | Dutch66
English similar version67 | 24 | Total (0–96) and four subscales: emotional (0–24), relational (0–24), mind/body (0–24), social (0–24) (The higher, the better) | IC per subscale: α=0.72–0.91 ITC per domain: r=(−0.29)-(−0.71)68‡ | Convergent validity68‡ | |
| Anxiety and depression | Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) | Dutch69
English similar version70 | 14 | Total (0–42) and two subscales: anxiety (0–21), depression (0–21) (The lower, the better) | IC for total: α>0.82 IC per subscale: α=0.71–0.86 TRR per subscale: r=0.86–0.89 TRR for total: r=0.9171† IC per subscale: α=0.75–0.87 ITC per subscale: 0.22–0.5572§ | Concurrent validity71† Convergent validity72§ | |
| Relational well-being | Relation-ship satisfaction | Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (R-DAS) | Dutch: Reciprocally translated by Prof Dr E Laan, University of Amsterdam. English similar version73 | 14 | Total score (0–69) and three subscales: dyadic consensus (0–30), dyadic satisfaction (0–20), dyadic cohesion (0–19) (The lower, the better) | IC per subscale: α=0.80–0.85 IC total score: α=0.90 TRR per subscale: r=0.80-.89 TRR total score: r=0.9574* | Construct validity Criterion validity74* |
*Study using the most similar version of the questionnaire in another language but not in subfertile patients.
†Study using the same Dutch version of the questionnaire but not in subfertile patients.
‡Study using the same Dutch version of the questionnaire in subfertile patients.
§Study using the most similar version of the questionnaire in another language in subfertile patients.
IC, Internal Consistency; ITC, Item Total Correlation; TRR, Test retest reliability.