Development and validation of a short version of the Female Sexual Function Index in the Spanish population

Abstract

Background: The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) is a commonly used scale for the assessment of female sexual function. Our aim was to develop and validate a Spanish short version of the FSFI. Methods: A parallel exploratory, sequential mixed-methods approach was used, involving 2 sites. The process consisted of 2 steps: (1) cognitive and content validation of the previously translated FSFI in the Spanish population, both through a focus group; and item selection based on the difficulty and discrimination parameters using item response theory (IRT), thereby obtaining a short version of the scale (sFSFI-sv); (2) assessment of test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC) of the sFSFI-sv. [...]