THE STUDY OF THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE 6- ITEM VERSION OF THE FEMALE SEXUAL FUNCTION INDEX (FSFI-6) AMONGEST IRANIAN WOMEN

Often, practitioners avoid investigating sexual symptoms due to concerns of
insufficient time or lack of proper and rapid tools to address female sexual dysfunction. The present
study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the 6-Item Version of the Female Sexual
Function Index (FSFI-6) amongst a sample of healthy Iranian women.
Materials & Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study, 650 married women inhabitants of
Tehran and 10٧ women with sexual dysfunctions were selected via a convenient sampling. These
participants completed the Persian versions of FSFI-6, Female Sexual Distress Scale Revised (FSDSR), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS), Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS) and
Locke & Wallace-Marital Adjustment Test (LWMAT).The construct validity and the convergent and
divergent validity of the FSFI-6 were examined by using exploratory factor analysis and Pearson
correlations, respectively. To examine the discriminant validity of the FSFI-6, data collected from ٦٥٠
healthy participants, and they were compared with 10٧ women having sexual problems.
Results: The results of the exploratory factor analyses indicated that the FSFI-6 is conceptualized
within a one factor model. Results also indicated that the FSDS-R has good internal consistency and
test-retest reliability. Significant correlations were seen in the predicted directions between the FSFI-6
scores with the scores of FSDS-R, DASS, PANAS and LWMAT which support both the convergent
and divergent validity for the FSFI-6. The results also indicated that the scores of the FSFI-6
significantly differentiated woman with and without sexual problems.
Conclusions: In general, these findings support the reliability and validity of the Persian version of
FSFI-6, so it can be used as a rapid and accurate tool in screening, research and clinical situations
among Iranian women