230 Clin Oncol Cancer Res (2010) 7: 230-233 Assessing Sexual Function amongst Hong Kong Chinese Patients with Gynecological Cancer: Translation and Validation of the Sexual Function-Vaginal Changes Questionnaire (SVQ) DOI 10.1007/s11805-010-0523-y Ka-ming CHOW 1 Winnie K.W. SO 2,3 Carmen W.H. CHAN 2,3 1 Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China. 2 The Nethersole School of Nursing, Hong Kong SAR, China. 3 The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. Correspondence to: Carmen W.H. CHAN E-mail: whchan@cuhk.edu.hk Tel: (852) 2609 6218 Fax: (852) 2603 5269 Received May 21, 2010; accepted August 10, 2010. E-mail: 2008cocr@gmail.com Tel (Fax): 86-22-2352 2919 OBJECTIVE The study aims to translate the Sexual Function- Vaginal Changes Questionnaire (SVQ) into Chinese and to establish its psychometric properties. METHODS A Chinese SVQ was developed by the use of the Brislin model of translation. The content validity and semantic equivalence were assessed by an expert panel. The translated version of SVQ was administered to 75 Hong Kong Chinese women who were suffered from gynecological cancer to test its psychometric properties. RESULTS The Chinese version of SVQ was compared to the original study for factor analysis. Internal consistency, item- to-scale correlations and test-retest reliability were high. The convergent and divergent validities supported the Chinese SVQ to be valid. CONCLUSION We conclude that the Chinese SVQ appears to be a valid, reliable and feasible disease-specific tool for the assessment of sexual function among Chinese patients. KEY WORDS: sexual function-vaginal changes questionnaire, sexual function, Hong Kong Chinese. Copyright © 2010 by Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital and Springer Introduction Gynecological cancer is now amongst the ten most common cancers in Hong Kong Chinese women [1] . Sexual function is generally taken to be compromised in gynecological cancer patients. However, both care and assessment in this area tend to be neglected in Hong Kong. In fact, there is no validated Chinese version of a disease-specific sexual function instrument suitable for clinical use with such patients. The Sexual Function-Vaginal Changes Questionnaire (SVQ) [2] is a short self-assessment questionnaire newly developed to assess sexual and vaginal problems in gynecological cancer patients. The original assessment found the English version of SVQ to be a valid and reli- able instrument [2] . This study aims to translate the SVQ into Chinese and to establish its psychometric properties among Hong Kong Chinese women fol- lowing treatment for gynecological cancer. The completion time, un- derstanding and acceptance of the questionnaire were also assessed.