Analysis of the Structural Characteristics and Psychometric Properties of the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Objectives
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Design and Protocol
3.2. Eligibility Criteria, Information Sources, and Search Strategy
3.3. Study Selection
3.4. Data Extraction and Assessment of Risk of Bias
3.5. Data Synthesis
4. Results
4.1. Study Selection Results
4.2. Study Characteristics
4.3. Risk of Bias of Included Studies
4.3.1. Structural Validity
4.3.2. Internal Consistency
4.3.3. Test–Retest Reliability
4.3.4. Responsiveness
4.3.5. Methodological Quality
4.3.6. Quality of Evidence
4.4. Synthesis of Results
5. Conclusions
Strengths and Limitations of the Study
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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| Questionnaire/Author, Year of Publication/ Version | Population/ Sample Size, Age, Group | Affected and Control Group | Setting/ Geographical Location | Target Population and Time Since Diagnosis | Number of Subjects–Phase Pilotage | Number of Subjects Per Item |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15): Validation of the Dutch version in patients with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury/Noordhoff et al., 2018/Dutch version [22] | n = 102 SCI: 53 MS: 49 Age: SCI: 41.3 ± 11.9 MS: 46.0 ± 10.1 Sex: SCI: Men: 12 ± 22.6 Women: 41 ± 77.4 MS: Men: 41 (83.7) Women: 8 (16.3) | AG: 102 CG: 50 | NR | SCI and MS SCI: 10.1 ± 7.5 MS: 13.1 ± 11.7 | total: 6.8 SCI: 3.53 MS: 3.29 | |
| The Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15): validation of the Italian version for individuals with spinal cord injury/Monti et al., 2020/ Italian version [21] | n = 65 Age: 40.4 ± 11.9 Sex: Men: 47 ± 72.3 Women: 27 ± 27.7 | La Sapienza University of Rome and the Rehabilitation and Outcome Measures Assessment Association | SCI | 4.33 | ||
| The Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15): Validation and Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Greek Version in MS Patients/Tzitzika et al., 2021/Greek version [24] | n = 127 Age: MS: 45.57 ± 11.13 CG: 53.02 ± 9.36 Sex: MS: Men: 35 Women: 33 CG: Men: 34 Women: 25 | AG: 68 CG: 59 | Urology Department of the National Rehabilitation Centre of Athens | MS | 8.46 | |
| The Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15): translation, adaptation, and validation of the Polish version for patients with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury/Przydacz et al., 2021/Polish version [23] | n = 227 SCI: 110 MS: 117 Age: SCI: 39.2 ± 9.9 MS: 44.2 ± 9.4 Sex: SCI: Men: 98 (89.1%) Women: 12 (10.9%) MS: Men: 35 (29.9%) Women: 82 (70.1%) | CG not included | Department of Urology of the Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland | SCI and MS SCI: 12.9 ± 10.9 MS: 9.2 ± 8.3 | 299 test phase | total: 15.33 SCI: 7.33 MS: 7.8 |
| Validation of the French version of the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire 15 Tools which help nurses assess the effect of perceived multiple sclerosis symptoms on sexual activity and satisfaction/Lefebvre et al., 2023/ French version [20] | n = 98 Age: 44.31 ± 11.33 Sex: Men: 30 Women: 68 | AG: 51 CG: 51 | Neurology department at the La Pitié Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, France | MS | 6.53 | |
| The Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ): Validation of the Turkish version in patients with multiple sclerosis/Dogan et al., 2022/Turkish version [19] | n = 130 Age: 41.77 ± 10.84 Sex: Women 100% | AG:130 | Neurology department of a university hospital | MS | 30 | 8.66 |
| Validation and cross-cultural adaptation of Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire-15 (MSISQ-15) into Spanish/Ríos et al., 2023/Spanish version [25] | n = 208 Age: 44.59 ± 9.788 Sex: Men: 73 Women: 135 | CG not included | Multiple sclerosis associations in Spain | MS 11.685 ± 8.5052 | 13.86 |
| Author/Version | Test–Retest Reliability | Internal Consistency | Construct Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noordhoff et al., 2018/ Dutch version [22] | TS 0.88 (0.79–0.93) 1D 0.90 (0.84–0.94) 2D 0.75 (0.60–0.85) 3D 0.86 (0.77–0.92) | Cronbach’s α = 0.90 | Indeterminate |
| Monti et al., 2020/ Italian version [21] | NE | Cronbach’s α = 0.75 | MSISQ-15–SF-12 Mental health (r) Pearson: −0.360 MSISQ-15–SF-12 Physical health (r) Pearson: −0.219 MSISQ-15–SCIM SR Self-care (r) Pearson: −0.033 MSISQ-15–SCIM SR Management of respiration and sphincter (r) Pearson: −0.036 MSISQ-15–SCIM SR Mobility (r) Pearson: −0.003 MSISQ-15–Total SCIM SR: −0.028 |
| Tzitzika et al., 2021/ Greek version [24] | TS 0.83 1D 0.84 2D 0.77 3D 0.86 | Cronbach’s α = 0.83 | MSISQ-15–IIEF (r): −0.57 MSISQ-15–FSFI (r): −0.60 |
| Przydacz et al., 2021/ Polish version [23] | TS 0.91 (0.80–0.95) 1D 0.93 (0.82–0.97) 2D 0.78 (0.70–0.86) 3D 0.87 (0.79–0.93) | Cronbach’s α = 0.93 | MSISQ-15–IIEF-15 (r) Pearson Test phase: −0.487 MSISQ-15–IIEF-15 (r) Pearson Retest phase: −0.456 MSISQ-15–PISQ-31 (r) Pearson Test phase: −0.709 MSISQ-15–PISQ-31 (r) Pearson Retest phase: −0.688 |
| Lefebvre et al., 2023/ French version [20] | TS 0.90 (0.63; 0.98) 1D 0.91 (0.65; 0.98) 2D 0.30 (−0.24; 0.76) 3D 0.93 (0.74; 0.98) | Cronbach’s α = 0.90 | Indeterminate |
| Dogan et al., 2022/ Turkish version [19] | TS 0.998 1D 0.992 2D 0.990 3D 0.994 | Cronbach’s α = 0.992 | MSISQ-15–MSQOL-54 (r) Pearson correlation 1D: −0.647; 2D: −0.706; 3D: −0.703; Total: −0.763 MSISQ-15–FSFI (r) Pearson correlation 1D: −0.776; 2D: −0.594; 3D: −0.655; Total: −0.754 MSISQ-15–PSIQ-12 (r) Pearson correlation 1D: −0.741; 2D: −0.678; 3D: −0.782; Total: −0.798 |
| Ríos et al., 2023/Spanish version [25] | NE | Cronbach’s α = 0.89 | MSISQ-15–FSH (rho) Spearman 1D: (−0.53); 2D: (−0.31); 3D: (−0.42); Total (−0.52) MSISQ-15–FSM-2 (rho) Spearman 1D: (−0.65); 2D: (−0.27); 3D: (−0.32); Total (−0.55) MSISQ-15–EAD-13 (rho) Spearman 1D: (−0.14); 2D: (−0.10); 3D: (−0.08); Total (−0.14) MSISQ-15–MusiQol (rho) Spearman 1D: (−0.25); 2D: (−0.35); 3D: (−0.38); Total (−0.039) |
| PROM | Version | Structural Validity (Rating) | Internal Consistency (Rating) | Reliability (Rating) | Measurement Error (Rating) | Hypotheses Testing (Rating) | Responsiveness (Rating) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Przydacz. et al., 2021 [23] | Polish | NR | Sufficient | Sufficient | NR | NR | NR |
| Methodological quality Risk of bias | NR | Very good | Adequate | NR | NR | NR | |
| Quality of evidence | NR | High | Moderate | NR | NR | NR | |
| Noordhoff et al., 2018 [22] | Dutch | NR | Sufficient | Sufficient | NE | Sufficient | NR |
| Methodological quality Risk of bias | NR | Very good | Doubtful | Very good | Very good | NR | |
| Quality of evidence | NR | Moderate | High | Moderate | Moderate | NR | |
| Monti et al., 2020 [21] | Italian | NR | Sufficient | Sufficient | NR | NR | NR |
| Methodological quality Risk of bias | NR | Very good | Doubtful | NR | NR | NR | |
| Quality of evidence | NR | High | Moderate | NR | NR | NR | |
| Lefebvre et al., 2023 [20] | French | NR | Sufficient | Sufficient | Sufficient | NR | NR |
| Methodological quality Risk of bias | NR | Very good | Adequate | Adequate | NR | NR | |
| Quality of evidence | NR | Moderate | Moderate | High | NR | NR | |
| Dogan et al., 2022 [19] | Turkish | NR | Sufficient | Sufficient | NE | NE | NR |
| Methodological quality Risk of bias | NR | Very good | Doubtful | Adequate | Very good | NR | |
| Quality of evidence | NR | High | High | Moderate | Moderate | NR | |
| Tzitzika et al., 2021 [24] | Greek | NR | Sufficient | Sufficient | NR | Sufficient | NE |
| Methodological quality Risk of bias | NR | Very good | Adequate | NR | Very good | Inadequate | |
| Quality of evidence | NR | High | Moderate | NR | Moderate | Moderate | |
| Ríos et al., 2023 [25] | Spanish | NR | Adequate | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Methodological quality Risk of bias | NR | Very good | NR | NR | NR | NR | |
| Quality of evidence | NR | Moderate | NR | NR | NR | NR | |
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Córdoba-Peláez, M.M.; Molina-Torres, G.; Rutkowska, A.; Rutkowski, S.; Rubio-Arias, J.Á. Analysis of the Structural Characteristics and Psychometric Properties of the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Diagnostics 2025, 15, 2836. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15222836
Córdoba-Peláez MM, Molina-Torres G, Rutkowska A, Rutkowski S, Rubio-Arias JÁ. Analysis of the Structural Characteristics and Psychometric Properties of the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Diagnostics. 2025; 15(22):2836. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15222836
Chicago/Turabian StyleCórdoba-Peláez, Marta María, Guadalupe Molina-Torres, Anna Rutkowska, Sebastian Rutkowski, and Jacobo Á. Rubio-Arias. 2025. "Analysis of the Structural Characteristics and Psychometric Properties of the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" Diagnostics 15, no. 22: 2836. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15222836
APA StyleCórdoba-Peláez, M. M., Molina-Torres, G., Rutkowska, A., Rutkowski, S., & Rubio-Arias, J. Á. (2025). Analysis of the Structural Characteristics and Psychometric Properties of the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Diagnostics, 15(22), 2836. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15222836

