Development of a Korean version of the Female Sexual Distress Scale.

INTRODUCTION: This article presents data based on the responses of more than 100 women who contributed to the development of a Korean version of the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS).

AIM: The FSDS was developed to measure sexually related personal distress in women. This article aims to test the usefulness and analyze factors of the 20-item version of the FSDS in a Korean female sample.

METHODS: The original two-item FSDS was translated with cultural modifications. A total of 104 healthy, married women were recruited through a survey. A second survey was undertaken after 2 weeks for test-retest reliability. Validity, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest reliability were evaluated. An exploratory factor analysis was also performed.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A Korean version of the FSDS.

RESULTS: The test-retest coefficients of stability over a 2-week period was 0.99 (P < 0.01). The 20 items of the FSDS have good internal consistency, with an alpha of 0.96. The FSDS discriminated between women with and without sexually related distress (t = -7.34, P < 0.01). The optimal cut-off score was 20 (sensitivity 71.4%, specificity 92.2%). By principal axis factoring, the Korean version of the FSDS was found to consist of two factors. A 16-item FSDS had good internal consistency with an alpha of 0.97. The test-retest reliability was good (r = 0.99, P < 0.01). The items of the 16-item FSDS were somewhat different from the original 12-item FSDS.

CONCLUSIONS: The Korean version of the FSDS (20-item) might be a useful tool for screening sexually distressed women in Korea. Instead of the 12-item version of the original FSDS, the 16-item FSDS was validated in this study. These results could reflect cultural differences between Eastern Asian and Western societies.