A new quality-of-life measure for men experiencing involuntary childlessness

A new quality-of-life measure for men experiencing involuntary childlessness

BACKGROUND: Infertility may considerably reduce quality-of-life. Many of the existing generic quality-of-life measures, which often focus on physical impairments, do not represent the specific complaints of infertile patients. In this article, we report on the development and validation of the TLMK...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human reproduction (Oxford) Vol. 20; no. 10; pp. 2858 - 2865
Main Authors: Schanz, S., Baeckert-Sifeddine, I.T., Braeunlich, C., Collins, S.E., Batra, A., Gebert, S., Hautzinger, M., Fierlbeck, G.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01-10-2005
Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Health Status Indicators
Humans
Infertility, Male - psychology
Male
male infertility
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Principal Component Analysis
Psychometrics - methods
Quality of Life
questionnaire development
Reproducibility of Results
Reproductive Medicine - methods
Research Design
Social Class
Surveys and Questionnaires
male infertility
questionnaire development
quality-of-life
Human
Vertebrata
male infertility/quality-of-life/questionnaire development
Mammalia
Questionnaire
Development
Male
Male sterility
Male genital diseases
Quality of life
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Summary:BACKGROUND: Infertility may considerably reduce quality-of-life. Many of the existing generic quality-of-life measures, which often focus on physical impairments, do not represent the specific complaints of infertile patients. In this article, we report on the development and validation of the TLMK (Tübinger Lebensqualitätsfragebogen für Männer mit Kinderwunsch), an instrument for measuring quality-of-life in male patients with involuntary childlessness. METHODS: The first version of the questionnaire, which consisted of 91 items, was administered to 275 men who attended andrology and gynaecology clinics for fertility evaluations. After the questionnaires were scored, item analysis and reduction, principal component analysis and internal consistency analyses were conducted. RESULTS: The final version of the TLMK consists of 35 items in four scales and provides an internally consistent quality-of-life profile for men experiencing involuntary childlessness. Convergent and discriminant validity was supported through the correlation of the TLMK scales with established questionnaires on life satisfaction (FLZ) and partnership (PFB). CONCLUSION: The TLMK provides information about the quality-of-life in men experiencing involuntary childlessness and was found to be easy to administer and acceptable to patients. It may be used to assess patients’ baseline and ongoing quality-of-life during fertility treatment and as an outcome variable in the evaluation of integrated psychological counselling.
Bibliography:istex:3E9BD9A86DF6AC4BDA939FD46AB0CBF0F7C37E2B
6To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: stefan.schanz@med.uni-tuebingen.de
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ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:0268-1161
1460-2350
DOI:10.1093/humrep/dei127