Aberdeen Sexual Function Improvement Index (SFI-I): A Novel Brief Questionnaire for Evaluating Sexual Function in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence
Abstract
1. Introduction
- To describe the SFI-I as an assessment tool of women’s sexual function following intervention at different follow-up time points;
- To explore the correlation of SFI-I and PGI-I following surgical treatment of SUI at various time points;
- To determine the correlation between SFI-I and change in PISQ-IR scores from baseline and at the follow-up time points.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Study Participants
2.2. Outcomes
3. Results
3.1. Ratio/Percentages of Improvement of SFI-I in Different Time Points
3.2. Correlations Between PGI-I Scores and Changes in SFI-I and PISQ-IR
3.3. SFI-I Outcomes Across Different Time Points in Women Completing Both Questionnaires
3.4. Correlations Between Responses on SFI-I and PISQ-IR Change at Different Time Points
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
| MCD | Minimum Clinical Difference |
| FSFI | Female Sexual Function Index |
| I-QoL | Incontinence Quality of Life |
| MUI | Mixed Urinary Incontinence |
| PFD | Pelvic Floor Dysfunction |
| PGI-I | Patient Global Improvement Index |
| PISQ-12 | Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire |
| POP | Pelvic Organ Prolapse |
| QOL | Quality of Life |
| RCT | Randomized Controlled Trial |
| SFI-I | Sexual Function Improvement Index |
| SIMS | Single-Incision Mini-Slings |
| SUI | Stress Urinary Incontinence |
| UUI | Urge Urinary Incontinence |
Appendix A
| Not in SFI-I Sub-Study | In SFI-I Sub-Study | |
|---|---|---|
| n= 172 | n= 134 | |
| Age | 54.2 (12.0); [n= 172] | 47.2 (8.4); [n= 134] |
| BMI | 29.0 (5.7); [n= 167] | 27.5 (4.6); [n= 134] |
| Pad test weight (g) | 57.3 (41.5); [n= 104] | 49.0 (83.4); [n= 111] |
| ICIQ UI short form score | 15.0 (3.3); [n= 162] | 13.6 (3.3); [n= 133] |
| ICIQ FLUTS filling score | 5.2 (2.6); [n= 162] | 4.1 (2.4); [n= 131] |
| ICIQ FLUTS voiding score | 2.0 (2.0); [n= 163] | 1.7 (2.0); [n= 134] |
| ICIQ FLUTS incontinence score | 11.8 (2.8); [n= 162] | 10.3 (3.1); [n= 131] |
| ICIQ FLUTS QOL score | 49.1 (11.1); [n= 158] | 44.8 (10.7); [n= 132] |
| Parity | 2.4 (0.9); [n= 169] | 2.3 (0.9); [n= 134] |
| EQ-5D-3L | 0.810 (0.233); [n= 158] | 0.887 (0.184); [n= 133] |
| PISQ-IR sexual functioning | 3.1 (0.6); [n= 44] | 3.4 (0.6); [n= 134] |
| Pelvic floor muscle training in the last 2 years | 146/172 (84.9%) | 119/134 (88.8%) |
| Clinical diagnosis | ||
| Stress urinary incontinence | 40/172 (23.3%) | 33/134 (24.6%) |
| Urodynamic diagnosis | ||
| Urodynamic stress incontinence | 127/172 (73.8%) | 109/134 (81.3%) |
| Mixed incontinence | 21/172 (12.2%) | 14/134 (10.4%) |
Appendix B
| Outcome | Description | Range | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICIQ UI SF | ICIQ urinary incontinence short form score | 0–21 | Higher scores mean poorer outcomes |
| ICIQ FLUTS filling | ICIQ female lower urinary tract symptoms filling score questionnaire | 0–16 | Higher scores mean poorer outcomes |
| ICIQ FLUTS voiding | ICIQ female lower urinary tract symptoms voiding score questionnaire | 0–12 | Higher scores mean poorer outcomes |
| ICIQ FLUTS incontinence | ICIQ female lower urinary tract symptoms incontinence score questionnaire | 0–20 | Higher scores mean poorer outcomes |
| ICIQ FLUTS QOL | ICIQ female lower urinary tract symptoms quality of life score questionnaire | 19–76 | Higher scores mean poorer outcomes |
| PISQ-IR | Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire, IUGA-Revised questionnaire | 1–4.71 | Higher scores indicate better sexual function |
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| Time Points | Very Much Better, n (%) | Much Better, n (%) | A Little Better, n (%) | No Change, n (%) | A Little Worse, n (%) | Much Worse, n (%) | Very Much Worse, n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 months n= 372 | 42 (11.3%) | 83 (22.3%) | 43 (11.6%) | 167 (44.9%) | 18 (4.8%) | 9 (2.4%) | 10 (2.7%) |
| 24 months n= 346 | 37 (10.7%) | 63 (18.2%) | 46 (13.3%) | 165 (47.7%) | 11 (3.2%) | 14 (4.0%) | 10 (2.9%) |
| 36 months n = 323 | 34 (10.5%) | 52 (16.1%) | 35 (10.8%) | 155 (48.0%) | 22 (6.8%) | 16 (5.0%) | 9 (2.8%) |
| Correlation Coefficient Value | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time Points | SFI-I | PISQ-IR Change |
| 15 Months | 0.344 | −0.253 |
| 24 Months | 0.435 | −0.250 |
| 36 Months | 0.342 | −0.290 |
| Time Points | Very Much Better, n (%) | Much Better, n (%) | A Little Better, n (%) | No Change, n (%) | A Little Worse, n (%) | Much Worse, n (%) | Very Much Worse, n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 months n = 118 | 12 (10.2%) | 38 (32.2%) | 11 (9.3%) | 47 (39.8%) | 5 (4.2%) | 3 (2.5%) | 2 (1.7%) |
| 24 months n = 101 | 6 (6.0%) | 28 (27.7%) | 11 (10.9%) | 45 (44.6%) | 5(5.0%) | 4 (4.0%) | 2 (2.0%) |
| 36 months n = 102 | 7 (6.9%) | 20 (19.6%) | 13 (12.8%) | 46 (45.1%) | 9(8.8%) | 3 (3.0%) | 4 (3.9%) |
| Time Points | Correlation-Coefficient Value | ||||||
| 15 Months | −0.518 | ||||||
| 24 Months | −0.550 | ||||||
| 36 Months | −0.588 | ||||||
| Variables | 15 Months | 24 Months | 36 Months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensitivity | 0.602 (0.514,0.691) | 0.551 (0.454, 0.648) | 0.507 (0.410, 0.604) |
| Specificity | 0.733 (0.654,0.813) | 0.781 (0.701, 0.862) | 0.871 (0.806, 0.936) |
| Positive predictive value | 0.869 (0.808,0.930) | 0.844 (0.774, 0.915) | 0.900 (0.842, 0.958) |
| Negative predictive value | 0.386 (0.298,0.474) | 0.446 (0.350, 0.543) | 0.436 (0.339, 0.532) |
| Positive likelihood ratio | 2.26 (1.22,4.19) | 2.52 (1.26, 5.01) | 3.93 (1.53, 10.09) |
| Negative likelihood ratio | 0.54 (0.29,0.76) | 0.58 (0.42, 0.79) | 0.57 (0.43, 0.74) |
| Diagnostic odds ratio | 4.16 (1.67,10.40) | 4.38 (1.67, 11.47) | 6.94 (2.20, 21.90) |
| Area under the curve | 0.627 (0.551,0.704) | 0.666 (0.572, 0.760) | 0.690 (0.605, 0.772) |
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Nipa, S.I.; Cooper, D.; Mostafa, A.; Abdel-Fattah, M. Aberdeen Sexual Function Improvement Index (SFI-I): A Novel Brief Questionnaire for Evaluating Sexual Function in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence. Uro 2026, 6, 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/uro6020015
Nipa SI, Cooper D, Mostafa A, Abdel-Fattah M. Aberdeen Sexual Function Improvement Index (SFI-I): A Novel Brief Questionnaire for Evaluating Sexual Function in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence. Uro. 2026; 6(2):15. https://doi.org/10.3390/uro6020015
Chicago/Turabian StyleNipa, Shamima Islam, David Cooper, Alyaa Mostafa, and Mohamed Abdel-Fattah. 2026. "Aberdeen Sexual Function Improvement Index (SFI-I): A Novel Brief Questionnaire for Evaluating Sexual Function in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence" Uro 6, no. 2: 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/uro6020015
APA StyleNipa, S. I., Cooper, D., Mostafa, A., & Abdel-Fattah, M. (2026). Aberdeen Sexual Function Improvement Index (SFI-I): A Novel Brief Questionnaire for Evaluating Sexual Function in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence. Uro, 6(2), 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/uro6020015

