Health-related quality of life in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome: validation of the German PCOSQ-G

PURPOSE: Patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) report a decreased health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and higher levels of psychological distress. Validated questionnaires are necessary to assess the impact of PCOS on patients’ lives. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the German “Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Questionnaire” (PCOSQ-G). METHODS: The psychometric properties of the PCOSQ-G were investigated in PCOS patients with item-total correlation, internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Correlations with the Short-Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D) were calculated to evaluate the validity of the PCOSQ-G. Discriminatory validity was investigated through a receiver operating characteristic curve and independent sample t tests compared with healthy controls. RESULTS: Good psychometric properties were found for most items. Acceptable to high internal consistency was found for the total score (α = 0.94–0.95) and all subscales (α = 0.70–0.97). High test–retest reliability was found for the total score (0.86) and all subscales (0.81–0.90). The validity analyses showed that the PCOSQ-G total score was positively correlated with both SF-36 summary scales and was negatively correlated with both HADS subscales. Patients reported significantly lower values for the PCOSQ-G total score (p < 0.001) and all subscales, and the PCOSQ-G discriminated well between patients and healthy controls (AUC = 0.81, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: PCOSQ-G is a reliable and valid tool to assess the HRQOL in patients with PCOS and can be used in future clinical research. Patients with PCOS exhibited an impaired HRQOL, which indicates the need for psychosomatic counseling. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00404-017-4623-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.