Validation of the Qualisex Questionnaire for Psychometric Assessment of Sexual Health in Lichen Sclerosus
- 1Link Campus University
Abstract
IntroductionLichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis predominantly affecting the anogenital region of both women and men. Sexual dysfunction remains among the most debilitating and overlooked consequences of the disease, as available patient-reported outcome measures are either restricted to one sex or capture sexual health only partially. The aim of the present work is to validate the Qualisex questionnaire (in its the Italian version) in patients with LS and to evaluate its psychometric properties, factor structure, convergent, discriminant validity, and sex symmetry. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 211 patients (167 women, 44 men; mean age 52.9 years) with a confirmed diagnosis of LS. Participants completed the Italian Qualisex, Skindex-29, DASS-21, and sexual-health-specific scales, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) for women, and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) for men. Construct validity was assessed via Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and reliability via Cronbachs . Convergent and discriminant validities were evaluated against standard psychometric batteries.
ResultsItem 2 was removed due to low communality (0.167). PCA on the remaining 9 items revealed a two-factor structure accounting for 72.5% of total variance: Component 1 ("Sexual Functioning and Satisfaction", 59.89%) and Component 2 ("Partner Devaluation", 12.66%). Internal consistency was high (= 0.911 overall; = 0.841 in women; = 0.899 in men). Qualisex scores correlated strongly with Skindex-29 Social Functioning (r = 0.582) and Emotions (r = 0.531) subscales, as well as FSFI (r = -0.391) and IIEF ({rho} = -0.566). Discriminant validity was supported by low-to-moderate correlations with DASS-21 domains (r < 0.38). While FSFI and IIEF showed significant negative correlations with age (p = 0.002), Qualisex remained age-independent across sexes (p > 0.05).
ConclusionThe 9-item Italian Qualisex is a reliable, sex-symmetrical, and age-independent patient-reported outcome measure for assessing sexual health impairment in LS, successfully isolating disease-specific distress from physiological aging and general distress.
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BibTeX
@misc{samela2026validation,
title = {{Validation of the Qualisex Questionnaire for Psychometric Assessment of Sexual Health in Lichen Sclerosus}},
author = {T. Samela and R. Priori and L. Colonna and L. Zozi and V. Gallo and C. Assorgi and S. Garcovich and A. Paganelli},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.16.26365725},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.16.26365725v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Validation of the Qualisex Questionnaire for Psychometric Assessment of Sexual Health in Lichen Sclerosus
AU - T. Samela
AU - R. Priori
AU - L. Colonna
AU - L. Zozi
AU - V. Gallo
AU - C. Assorgi
AU - S. Garcovich
AU - A. Paganelli
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.16.26365725
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.16.26365725v1
AB - IntroductionLichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis predominantly affecting the anogenital region of both women and men. Sexual dysfunction remains among the most debilitating and overlooked consequences of the disease, as available patient-reported outcome measures are either restricted to one sex or capture sexual health only partially. The aim of the present work is to validate the Qualisex questionnaire (in its the Italian version) in patients with LS and to evaluate its psychometric properties, factor structure, convergent, discriminant validity, and sex symmetry. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 211 patients (167 women, 44 men; mean age 52.9 years) with a confirmed diagnosis of LS. Participants completed the Italian Qualisex, Skindex-29, DASS-21, and sexual-health-specific scales, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) for women, and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) for men. Construct validity was assessed via Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and reliability via Cronbachs . Convergent and discriminant validities were evaluated against standard psychometric batteries. ResultsItem 2 was removed due to low communality (0.167). PCA on the remaining 9 items revealed a two-factor structure accounting for 72.5% of total variance: Component 1 ("Sexual Functioning and Satisfaction", 59.89%) and Component 2 ("Partner Devaluation", 12.66%). Internal consistency was high (= 0.911 overall; = 0.841 in women; = 0.899 in men). Qualisex scores correlated strongly with Skindex-29 Social Functioning (r = 0.582) and Emotions (r = 0.531) subscales, as well as FSFI (r = -0.391) and IIEF ({rho} = -0.566). Discriminant validity was supported by low-to-moderate correlations with DASS-21 domains (r < 0.38). While FSFI and IIEF showed significant negative correlations with age (p = 0.002), Qualisex remained age-independent across sexes (p > 0.05). ConclusionThe 9-item Italian Qualisex is a reliable, sex-symmetrical, and age-independent patient-reported outcome measure for assessing sexual health impairment in LS, successfully isolating disease-specific distress from physiological aging and general distress.
ER -