Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Validation of the Italian version of the Peyronie’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ)

International Journal of Impotence Research (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Peyronie’s disease (PD) is a connective tissue disorder characterized by the formation of fibrous plaques in the tunica albuginea of the penis which can result in pain, deformity and erectile dysfunction (ED). The Peyronie’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ) assesses the severity of symptoms, including pain, penile curvature and ED, as well as the impact on sexual function, emotional well-being, and overall quality of life of PD patients. Previous studies validated the PDQ in languages other than English and confirmed its test–retest reliability and clinical utility. Despite this, in many countries the unavailability of an adequate PDQ validation in native language hampers its use in clinical practice. In the present non-interventional, observational study we aimed at validating the Italian version of the PDQ (PDQ-I). Between January 2019 and November 2021, 79 PD patients from 6 Italian high-volume centers were administrated the PDQ-I in two separated office visits distanced by a period of 6 months. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to evaluate the association between the three PDQ scale scores at visit 1 and 2. Paired t-tests were used to evaluate significant score changes between the 2 visits. Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess internal consistency reliability. PDQ-I demonstrated an excellent test–retest reliability in the Italian population (ICC 0.78–0.92) as well as a strong internal consistency, with all three scale scores showing a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient above 0.70. PDQ-I proved to be a useful tool which allows to reliably evaluate Italian PD patients’ quality of life in both everyday andrological practice and clinical research. External validation of our results is pending.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Data are anonymized and stored at the Urological Clinic of the University of Trieste at the Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences.

References

  1. Nehra A, Alterowitz R, Culkin DJ, Faraday MM, Hakim LS, Heidelbaugh JJ, et al. American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.,. Peyronie’s Disease: AUA Guideline. J Urol. 2015;194:745–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2015.05.098.

  2. Stuntz M, Perlaky A, des Vignes F, Kyriakides T, Glass D. The Prevalence of Peyronie’s Disease in the United States: A Population-Based Study. PLoS One. 2016;11:e0150157. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150157.

  3. Rhoden EL, Teloken C, Ting HY, Lucas ML, Teodósio da Ros C, Ary Vargas Souto C. Prevalence of Peyronie’s disease in men over 50-y-old from Southern Brazil. Int J Impot Res. 2001;13:291–3. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3900727.

  4. Kadioglu A, Dincer M, Salabas E, Culha MG, Akdere H, Cilesiz NC. A population-based study of Peyronie’s Disease in Turkey: prevalence and related comorbidities. Sex Med. 2020;8:679–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2020.09.002.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Hellstrom WJG, Feldman R, Rosen RC, Smith T, Kaufman G, Tursi J. Bother and distress associated with Peyronie’s disease: validation of the Peyronie’s disease questionnaire. J Urol. 2013;190:627–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2013.01.090.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Gelbard M, Goldstein I, Hellstrom WJG, McMahon CG, Smith T, Tursi J, et al. Clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability of collagenase clostridium histolyticum for the treatment of Peyronie disease in 2 large double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled phase 3 studies. J Urol. 2013;190:199–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JURO.2013.01.087.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Serefoglu EC, Smith TM, Kaufman GJ, Liu G, Yafi FA, Hellstrom WJG. Factors associated with erectile dysfunction and the Peyronie’s disease questionnaire in patients with Peyronie disease. Urology. 2017;107:155–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urology.2017.05.029.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Rosen RC, Cappelleri JC, Smith MD, Lipsky J, Peñ BM. Development and evaluation of an abridged, 5-item version of the international index of erectile function (IIEF-5) as a diagnostic tool for erectile dysfunction. Int J Impot Res. 1999;11:319–26. https://doi.org/10.1038/SJ.IJIR.3900472.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Coyne KS, Currie BM, Thompson CL, Smith TM. The test-retest reliability of the Peyronie’s disease questionnaire. J Sex Med. 2015;12:543–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12769.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Liguori G, Salonia A, Garaffa G, Chiriacò G, Pavan N, Cavallini G, et al. Objective measurements of the penile angulation are significantly different than self-estimated magnitude among patients with penile curvature. Int Braz J Urol. 2018;44:555–62. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1677-5538.IBJU.2017.0418.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Coyne KS, Currie BM, Thompson CL, Smith TM. Responsiveness of the Peyronie’s disease questionnaire (PDQ). J Sex Med. 2015;12:1072–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12838.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Nelson CJ, Diblasio C, Kendirci M, Hellstrom W, Guhring P, Mulhall JP. The chronology of depression and distress in men with Peyronie’s disease. J Sex Med. 2008;5:1985–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1743-6109.2008.00895.X.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Beaton DE, Bombardier C, Guillemin F, Ferraz MB. Guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. Spine. 2000;25:3186–91. https://doi.org/10.1097/00007632-200012150-00014.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. García-Gómez B, Martínez-Salamanca JI, Sarquella-Geli J, Justo-Quintas J, García-Rojo E, Fernández-Pascual E, et al. Peyronie’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ): Spanish translation and validation. Int J Impot Res. 2022;34:501–4. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-021-00460-5.

  15. Wiborg MH, Laursen BS, Kallestrup EB, Krøijer R, Lund L. Peyronie’s disease questionnaire: translation into Danish and cultural adaptation. Sex Med. 2023;11:qfac022. https://doi.org/10.1093/sexmed/qfac022.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Smith JF, Walsh TJ, Conti SL, Turek P, Lue T. Risk factors for emotional and relationship problems in Peyronie’s disease. J Sex Med. 2008;5:2179–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1743-6109.2008.00949.X.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Burri A, Porst H. The relationship between penile deformity, age, psychological bother, and erectile dysfunction in a sample of men with Peyronie’s Disease (Pd). Int J Impot Res. 2018;30:171–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-018-0029-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Macdonald EJ, Gaines JM, Kim JI, Paduch DA. Exploring the relationship between socioeconomic status and erectile dysfunction: an analysis of the national health and nutrition examination survey. Int J Impot Res. 2023;35;478–83. https://doi.org/10.1038/S41443-022-00584-2.

  19. D’Elia C, Cerruto MA, Cavicchioli FM, Cardarelli S, Molinari A, Artibani W. Critical points in understanding the Italian Version of the IIEF 5 questionnaire. Archivio Ital di Urologia e Androl. 2012;84:197–201.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Bayraktar Z, Atun AI. Despite some comprehension problems the international index of erectile function is a reliable questionnaire in erectile dysfunction. Urol Int. 2012;88:170–6. https://doi.org/10.1159/000335432.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Corona, Cucinotta G, Di Lorenzo D, Ferlin G, Giagulli A, Gnessi VA, et al. The Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine (SIAMS), along with Ten Other Italian Scientific Societies, Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Erectile Dysfunction. J Endocrinol Invest. 2023;46:1241–74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-023-02015-5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Urological Clinic, Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, Cattinara Hospital, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

    Fabio Traunero, Luca Ongaro, Michele Rizzo, Carlo Trombetta & Giovanni Liguori

  2. Department of Pediatric Urology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy

    Massimo Di Grazia

  3. Department of Urology, Careggi Hospital, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Andrea Cocci

  4. Department of Urology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Paolo Verze

  5. Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Alessandro Zucchi

  6. Department of Urology, Santa Chiara Regional Hospital, Trento, Italy

    Tommaso Cai

  7. Department of Urology, “Cardinale G. Panico” Hospital, Tricase (Lecce), Italy

    Leonardo Salamè

  8. Department of Urology, St. George’s University Hospital, London, United Kingdom

    Giulio Garaffa

Authors
  1. Fabio Traunero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Massimo Di Grazia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Luca Ongaro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michele Rizzo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Andrea Cocci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Paolo Verze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alessandro Zucchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Tommaso Cai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Leonardo Salamè
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Giulio Garaffa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Carlo Trombetta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Giovanni Liguori
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization: GL and MDG; Data curation: FT and LO; Methodology: GL, FT, MDG and LO; Software: FT and LO; Investigation: FT, MDG, LO and GL; Formal analysis: FT and LO; Writing—Original Draft: FT, LO, MDG, GG and GL; Writing—Review & Editing: MR, AC, PV, AZ, TC, LS, CT and GG; Supervision: CT and GL.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fabio Traunero.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This is a prospective non-interventional study conducted on patients treated by the law and the national and European ethical guidelines. All Authors ensured that their institutions and their clinical behavior are complying with the specific requirements of the Country. The informed consent as well as the consent for the use of personal data were regularly collected from all the subjects involved in the study. Signed informed consent forms are stored in an appropriate repository.

Consent for publication

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Traunero, F., Di Grazia, M., Ongaro, L. et al. Validation of the Italian version of the Peyronie’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ). Int J Impot Res (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-023-00792-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-023-00792-4

Search

Advanced search

Quick links