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Validation of the Italian version of the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire-19

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Abstract

Background

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) may experience sexual dysfunction throughout the disease course. Validated scales to assess sexual dysfunction in MS for Italian patients are lacking. Hence, we aimed at validating Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-19) for Italian MS patients.

Methods

We included both male and female MS patients. Each patient completed the Italian translation of the MSISQ-19. Construct validity was explored by the exploratory factor analysis and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Test-retest stability and concurrent internal and external validity were examined by Pearson’ correlation coefficients.

Results

We enrolled 369 MS patients (323 female and 46 male). Italian MSISQ-19 showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.92. MSISQ-19 test and retest total scores correlated between each other (r = 0.48, p = 0.01). MSISQ-19 total score also correlated with primary, secondary and tertiary subscales (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The Italian Version of the MSISQ-19 showed satisfactory internal consistency and reliability with moderately adequate test-retest reproducibility, suggesting that it may be used as a valuable measure of sexual dysfunction in the Italian population.

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Data availability

Data will be made available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Carotenuto Antonio and De Giglio Laura equally contributed as first authors.

  2. Brescia Morra Vincenzo and Lanzillo Roberta equally contributed as last authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, ‘Federico II’ University, Naples, Italy

    Antonio Carotenuto, Alessandro Chiodi, Maria Petracca, Laura Rosa, Maurizio Bianchi, Francesca Lauro, Marcello Moccia, Vincenzo Brescia Morra & Roberta Lanzillo

  2. Neurological Unit, ‘S. Filippo’ Hospital Rome, Rome, Italy

    Laura De Giglio

  3. Multiple Sclerosis Center, ‘S. Andrea’ Hospital, Rome, Italy

    Ilaria Ferrante, Antonio Ianniello & Carlo Pozzilli

Authors
  1. Antonio Carotenuto
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Contributions

Conception and design of the study: Carotenuto A., De Giglio L, Pozzilli C., Roberta Lanzillo, Vincenzo Brescia Morra; data acquisition: Roberta L, Del Giglio C, Rosa L., Bianchi M., Ferrante I., Lauro F., Ianniello A., Pozzilli C., Brescia Morra; data analysis: Carotenuto Antonio, De Giglio L, Bianchi M., Lanzillo R., Marcello Moccia; manuscript drafting: Carotenuto Antonio, Del Giglio C, Rosa L., Bianchi M., Ferrante I., Lauro F., Ianniello A., Pozzilli C., Brescia Morra, Moccia M.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roberta Lanzillo.

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Conflict of interest

Antonio Carotenuto received research grants from ALMIRALL, and honoraria form Novartis, Merck and Biogen. Marcello Moccia has received research grants from ECTRIMS-MAGNIMS, UK MS Society and Merck; honoraria from Biogen, Merck, Novartis and Roche; and consulting fees from Veterans Evaluation Services. Roberta Lanzillo received personal compensations for speaking or consultancy from Biogen, Teva, Genzyme, Merck, Novartis, Almirall. Maria Petracca received travel grant from Novartis. Vincenzo Brescia Morra received personal compensations for speaking or consultancy from Biogen, Teva, Genzyme, Merck, Novartis, Almirall. Chiodi Alessandro, Laura Rosa, Bianchi Maurizio, Francesca Lauro, Ilaria Ferrante and Ianniello Antonio declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this abstract. Carlo Pozzilli received consulting and lecture fees and research funding and travel grants from Almirall, Bayer, Biogen, Genzyme, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche and Teva. Laura Del Giglio received speaking honoraria from Genzyme and Novartis; travel grants from Biogen, Merk and Teva; and consulting fees from Genzyme, Merk, and Novartis.

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Naples ‘Federico II’ and of the ‘S. Andrea’ Hospital in Rome and all investigators adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Written informed consents were obtained from all subjects enrolled in the study.

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Carotenuto, A., De Giglio, L., Chiodi, A. et al. Validation of the Italian version of the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire-19. Neurol Sci 42, 2903–2910 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-04873-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-04873-w

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