Psychometric properties and validation of the German-language King's Health Questionnaire in women with stress urinary incontinence

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of and validate the German-language version of the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) in women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). METHODS: A total of 145 women treated for stress incontinence with surgery or physiotherapy completed the the KHQ and the SF-36 before and after treatment. Psychometric analyses of the quality of life (QoL) instruments determined the reliability (Cronbach's alpha), internal and external validity, and responsiveness of the KHQ subscales. RESULTS: The KHQ showed good internal consistency, content validity, and criterion validity as measured by correlation with scores on the SF-36. Cronbach's alpha coefficient ranged from 0.76 to 0.86, indicating a high internal consistency of the subscales. Concerning criterion validity, correlations between the KHQ subscales and the SF-36 were low to moderate. The highest correlation was found between the general health perception subscales of both questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate good psychometric properties for the German-language KHQ.