Development of the 'Perceived Sexual Distress Scale-Hindi' for measuring sexual distress following spinal cord injury

Abstract

Study design:Clinimetric study.Objectives:To develop the Perceived Sexual Distress Scale (PSDS) in Hindi language (that is, PSDS-H) for persons with spinal cord injury (SCI), and to establish its content validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability.Setting:New Delhi, India.Methods:Following a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews, a 43-item questionnaire was drafted. Each item was rated on a 5-point scale. Content validity was established both qualitatively and quantitatively. Inter-item, item total correlations, internal consistency and test-retest reliability were calculated.Results:Expert panel opinion and content validity ratio (CVR) validated the content of the PSDS-H. Five items were dropped because of low CVR, resulting in a 38-item questionnaire. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.965. The test-retest reliability was 0.647.Conclusion:The PSDS-H is a valid, self/interviewer-rated tool that can help inform the rehabilitation team about the level of an individual's perceived sexual distress post SCI. It also provides an outcome measure to evaluate the efficacy of interventions related to sexuality post injury.