ABSTRACT
Aim: The present study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of Persian version of patient assessment of constipation: quality of life [PAC-QOL] questionnaire in Iranian patients
Background: Chronic constipation has significant effects on daily living, wellbeing and individuals' quality of life [QOL]. Validated tools can help us to assessing QOL in affected ones and facilitating clinical management of them
Methods: The English version of Patient Assessment of Constipation: Quality of Life [PAC-QOL] was translated into the Persian language and was confirmed by back-translation. One hundred and forty patients with functional constipation, according Rome III criteria, completed the questionnaires .The questionnaires were analyzed using Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency score to determine the reliability. Twenty medical experts were then asked to evaluate the PAC-QOL and the results were used to calculate the Content Validity Ratio [CVR] and Content Validity Index [CVI]
Results: Due to obtained value for Cronbach's alpha [0.975] and also for the subscale of physical discomfort [0.930], psychosocial discomfort [0.975] and worries and concerns [0.915], the internal consistency is established. According to medical experts' opinions, the value of CVR ranged from 0.5 to 0.8 and the value of CVI was 0.81
Conclusion: The Persian version of PAC-QOL questionnaire is shown to have acceptable reliability and validity to be used for psychometric evaluation in Iranian patients complaining of functional constipation
ABSTRACT
The waiting time between children births are called tempo. This phenomenon plays a crucial role in the child and mother health. The purpose of the present study is determination of factors which influence this variable of interest. A significance level of 5% and power of 80% considered to calculate the required sample size for this cross sectional study. The sample size of 124 women determined using PASS software [ver. 11.0.4]. These women randomly selected of married women between 15-45 years old with at least two children, living in Irin village. We consider the waiting time between the first and the second birth in women randomly sampled from Irin village of Tehran province of Iran. The selected mothers had 364 children at the time of study. The average and standard error for the number of children were 2.940 and 1.102 respectively. 59% of the children were girl and the rest were boy. Tempo variable as an index estimated using Toki method. The lowest tempo is for 5th to 6th births [28.5] and highest is for 6th to 7th [60]. Cox regression model was used to determine the significant explanatory factors. Birth of child was considered as an event and time between the first and the second event was considered as outcome in this model. According to the fitted Cox regression model, only maternal education and father's occupation were statistically significant at 5% on time to second birth