Sexual function questionnaire: further refinement and validation.

INTRODUCTION: The Sexual Function Questionnaire (SFQ) is a self-report outcome measure of female sexual function. It has recently been refined to create a 28-item version (SFQ28) including the addition of a new arousal-cognitive domain.

AIM: This study aimed to validate the SFQ28 in female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) and hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) populations and to develop a screening cut-score for the arousal-cognitive domain.

METHODS: Women with FSAD (n=222) and HSDD (n=114) and 303 women without female sexual dysfunction (FSD) completed the SFQ28, the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS), and the Sexual Quality of Life-Female (SQOL-F) at a clinic visit. Retests were performed within FSD groups only (FSAD: n=92, HSDD: n=183), using postal questionnaires 7-14 days later. The optimal cut-score for the arousal-cognitive domain was based on diagnostic tests of sensitivity and specificity from a receiver operating characteristic curve.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Psychometric analyses.

RESULTS: The factor analysis confirmed the domain structure of the SFQ28. The SFQ28 demonstrated excellent internal consistency, test retest reliability and known groups validity, and good convergent validity with the FSDS and SQOL-F for all domains except pain. The sensitivity/specificity analysis determined a screening cut-score of 5 for the arousal-cognitive domain.

CONCLUSION: Given the replication of the psychometric data and the cut-scores for each domain, the SFQ28 is a robust measure that can be used in women with either FSAD or HSDD.