Validity and Reliability of the Sri Lankan Version of the Patient-Centered Questionnaire-Infertility (PCQ-Infertility)

Abstract

Background: Reproductive healthcare of the highest calibre should encompass not only safety and effectiveness but also a patient-centered approach. Patients demand patient-centered subfertility treatment in addition to efficient medical management. Offering patient-centered care is crucial for both patients and healthcare professionals. The absence of a suitable instrument for measuring patient-centeredness poses a significant challenge in evaluating this essential aspect of care in Sri Lanka. The present study resulted in a culturally adapted and validated tool in Sinhala language to measure patient-centredness of care received by female partners of subfertile couples.
 Methods: The Patient Centredness Questionnaire-Infertility (PCQ-Infertility) was culturally adopted using a modified Delphi process, translated into Sinhala and assessed for its judgmental validity. The study was conducted September to December 2019. A cross-sectional study among 251 females attending the Subfertility Clinic at Teaching Hospital Mahamodara assessed the factor structure through exploratory factor analysis. The factor structure was confirmed with another cross-sectional study at the same setting among 250 females through confirmatory factor analysis. Test re-test reliability, internal consistency and inter-rater reliability were also assessed.
 Results: The validated PCQ-Infertility had 44 items with a seven-factor structure identified after exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis with a combination of acceptable fit indices (SRMR of 0.079, CFI 0.862 and RMSEA 0.069). A Cronbach’s alpha value 0.761 assured high internal consistency. Test- retest and inter-rater reliability assessment gave satisfactory results with values exceeding 0.7 for all domains.
 Conclusion: Modified PCQ-Infertility is a valid and reliable instrument which can be used to assess patient centredness care received of subfertile females in Sri Lanka.