Translation and Validation of the Premenstrual Assessment Form-Short Form Questionnaire in Hungarian

TL;DR

This study translated and validated a questionnaire for assessing premenstrual symptoms in Hungarian, finding it reliable and valid for use.

Contribution

The study provides a validated Hungarian version of the PAF-SF questionnaire for assessing premenstrual symptoms.

Findings

The Hungarian PAF-SF questionnaire showed good reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.845.

Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure of the questionnaire (Affect, Water Retention, and Pain).

The questionnaire is valid and reliable for assessing premenstrual symptoms in Hungarian-speaking women.

Abstract

Premenstrual symptoms, including premenstrual syndrome and its more severe form premenstrual dysphoric disorder, are a set of somatic and psychological symptoms that occur during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Our research aimed to adapt the Hungarian version of the Premenstrual Assessment Form-Short Form (PAF-SF), a questionnaire suitable for assessing premenstrual symptoms, and to examine its reliability, validity, and applicability.

The questionnaire was validated according to Beaton's six-step guidelines. Our sample consisted of 198 menstruating women, 50 of whom completed the instrument for a second time to assess reliability. Descriptive statistics were calculated presenting mean (standard deviation), the internal consistency was measured by Cronbach's alpha value, the test–retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficients, Spearman rank correlation was applied to test the criterion validity of the questionnaire, and discriminant validity was examined using the independent-sample t test using IBM SPSS 28.0 software. The structural validity was evaluated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using IBM AMOS 29.0 software. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05.

Our sample (average age 25.37 ± 4.80 years) scored 28.08 ± 9.49 points out of the maximum 60 points when filling out the PAF-SF questionnaire. The result of Cronbach's alpha calculation, which supports the reliability of the questionnaire, was 0.845. During the CFA, the three-factor structure (Affect, Water Retention, and Pain) was supported (root mean-square error approximation [RMSEA] = 0.054; Tucker–Lewis Index = 0.965; Comparative Fit Index = 0.976; χ2 = 48.642; df = 31; p = 0.023; χ2/df = 1.569).

The PAF-SF questionnaire proved to be a reliable measuring tool for assessing premenstrual symptoms among women of reproductive age.

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