Psychometric properties of vaginal penetration cognition questionnaire (VPCQ) in Iranian women with sexual pain disorders

Abstract

Abstract Aim The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Vaginal Penetration Cognition Questionnaire (VPCQ). Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods This research was conducted in two phases from June 2019 to February 2020. Phase I: The World Health Organization Protocol of forward–backward translation and an expert panel in order to determine face and content validity. Phase II: Survey development with 352 eligible women with sexual pain disorders, construct validity, internal consistency and construct reliability were evaluated. Results The exploratory factor analysis showed that the Persian version of VPCQ has three factors that explained 53.94% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis also confirmed the fit of the three‐factor model. Convergent and divergent validity were confirmed for all factors. The average measure ICC was 0.99 (95% CI 0.98 to 0.99). The absolute reliability with estimated SEM of 2.67 and MDC% of 28% approved the reliability of the questionnaire.

Keywords

• cognition
• dyspareunia
• female sexual pain disorders
• genito‐pelvic pain/penetration disorder
• psychometrics
• vaginismus