EDITS: Development of questionnaires for evaluating satisfaction with treatments for erectile dysfunction

Objectives. To develop Patient and Partner versions of a psychometrically s ound questionnaire, the EDITS (Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction), to assess satisfaction with medical treatments for erectile dysfunction. Methods. Treatment satisfaction differs from treatment efficacy as it focus es on a person's subjective evaluation of treatment received. Twenty-nine i tems representing the domain of treatment satisfaction for men and 20 repre senting partner satisfaction were generated. Two independent samples of 28 and 29 couples completed all items at two points in time. Spearman rank-ord er correlations were derived to assess test-retest reliability and couple c oefficients of validity. Internal consistency coefficients were calculated for both Patient and Partner versions and a content validity panel was used to analyze content validity. Results. Only items that met all the following criteria were selected to co mprise the final questionnaires: (a) range of response four or more out of five; (b) test-retest reliability greater than 0.70; (c) ratings by at leas t 70% of the content validity panel as belonging in and being important for the domain; and (d) significant correlation between the subjects' and part ners' responses. Eleven patient items met criteria and formed the Patient E DITS; five partner items met criteria and formed the Partner EDITS. Scores on the two inventories were normally distributed with internal consistencie s of 0.90 and 0.76, respectively. Test-retest reliability for the Patient E DITS was 0.98; for the Partner EDITS, it was 0.83. Conclusions. Reliability and validity were well established, enabling the E DITSs to be used to assess satisfaction with treatment modalities for erect ile dysfunction and to explore the impact of patient and partner satisfacti on on treatment continuation. (C) 1999, Elsevier Science Inc. All rights re served.