Validity and reliability of menopause rating scale in colombian indigenous population

• Main Authors: Álvaro Monterrosa-Castro, Ángel José Paternina-Caicedo, Edwin Herazo-Acevedo, Heidi Celina Oviedo-Acevedo, Adalberto Campo Arias
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad del Magdalena 2017-01-01
• Series: Duazary
• Subjects: Menopausia; Salud de Poblaciones Indígenas; Climaterio; Calidad de vida
• Online Access: http://revistas.unimagdalena.edu.co/index.php/duazary/article/view/1737

The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) measures quality of life in menopausal women. It compounds of three dimensions that assess somatic, psychological and urogenital menopausal-related symptoms. However, the validity of the scales may vary according to population characteristics, and there are no validations to date of MRS in American indigenous population. To assess the validity of MRS in Indigenous Colombian women during menopause. A research was done a sample of 914 indigenous women, 507 postmenopausal women and 407 premenopausal. They were between 40-49 years-old, with a mean age of 59.3 ± 5.9years. MRS was applied to all enrolled women. Cronbach's alpha was applied for the original proposed dimensions, and the dimensions from the results of factor analysis and maximum likelihood methods. A Promax rotation was applied to analysis. MRS showed a Cronbach's alpha: 0.86. The somatic dimension: 0.63, the psychological dimension: 0.75, and urogenital: 0.84. Score was greater in postmenopausal compared to premenopausal, 14.4 (±SD, 6.4) versus 8.4 (±SD, 5.9) (P<0.001). The factor analysis showed two dimensions. The first dimension included items 1,7,8,9,10,11; and accounted for 39.9% of variance. The second dimension included items 2,3,4,5,6; explaining 14.2% of variance. Cronbach's alpha was 0.86 for the first dimension and 0.81 for the second dimension. MRS showed high internal consistency and adequate nomological validity. The factor analysis resulted in two dimensions. These results evidence the need to better assess the validity of the instruments in different populations.