The short form endometriosis health profile (EHP-5): translation and validation study of the Iranian version

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-5) is a valid instrument to measure health-related quality of life in endometriosis. This study was conducted to culturally adapt and validate the EHP-5 in Iran. METHODS: Using a standard "forward-backward' translation procedure, the English language version of the questionnaire was translated into Persian (Iranian language). Then a sample of 199 women aged 18-50 years completed the questionnaire. To test reliability the internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Validity was evaluated using known groups comparison. RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 31.4 (SD = 5.4) years. Reliability analysis showed satisfactory result (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.71). The questionnaire discriminated well between sub-groups of women differing in infertility and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in the expected direction. CONCLUSION: This preliminary validation study of the Iranian version of the EHP-5 proved that it is an acceptable, reliable and valid measure of quality of life in endometriosis patients.