Hypothesis / aims of study
The International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (ICIQ-MLUTS) Questionnaire is a well-recognized questionnaire that assesses and quantifies male lower urinary tract symptoms and their impact on quality of life. It has been translated and validated into many languages, but it has never been translated into Arabic, and there is a lack of such questionnaires in Arab-speaking countries.
This study aims to translate and assess the validity and reliability of the translated Arabic version of the (ICIQ-MLUTS) as an assessment tool for the evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms, treatment outcomes, and its impact on quality of life.
Study design, materials and methods
The International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (ICIQ-MLUTS) questionnaire was translated into the Arabic language following the ICIQ protocol. After getting permission from the ICIQ advisory board to translate the questionnaire, it was first translated by a bilingual translator, then it was reviewed by functional urologists, followed by a back-translation into the English language. The back-translated version was then reviewed and approved by the ICIQ advisory board. The final version was then tested for psychometric assessment, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Psychometric assessment was done by face-to-face interviews with the participants. Internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and a score of 0.7 or more is considered adequate internal consistency. The test-retest reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). All patients received the questionnaire at the clinic and then retested after two weeks without intervention. Statistical analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS) version 20.
Interpretation of results
The translated Arabic version of the ICIQ-MLUTS showed an internal consistency of 0.873, which indicates adequate internal consistency. It also showed a test-retest reliability intraclass correlation coefficient score of 0.932, which indicates stability over a short period of time.