Development and Validation of a Bowel Diary for Fecal Incontinence: Comparison With a Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Bowel diaries are used to characterize the severity of fecal incontinence (FI) but have not been adequately validated for this purpose. Our aims were to validate a new bowel diary and to compare the characteristics of FI as assessed with a bowel diary and a validated questionnaire.

METHODS

In this four-center prospective study, patients with a history of FI and asymptomatic controls completed a 28-day bowel diary and validated questionnaires to evaluate bowel habits and FI, quality of life related to FI (FIQoL), and PROMIS scales for anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy.

RESULTS

Among 59 participants with FI and 29 asymptomatic controls, the bowel diary was 97% sensitive and 93% specific for distinguishing between FI participants and controls. Over 28 days, FI participants experienced an average [SD] of 31.1 [50.7] FI episodes, consisting of staining (12.6 [14.9]), some stool (12.5 [20.3]), or a full bowel movement (4.4 [8.5]). Correlations between the questionnaire and diary were statistically significant for frequency (Spearman ρ = 0.5, p < 0.001), amount (ρ = 0.4, p < 0.001), and awareness of FI (ρ = 0.3, p = 0.04). In 71% of participants, there was agreement between the consistency of FI as reported in the questionnaire and the diary. More severe FI was associated with poorer FIQoL (p = 0.002). Anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy scores did not significantly affect the agreement between the frequency of FI reported in the diary and questionnaire.

CONCLUSION

This bowel diary effectively discriminates between healthy participants and those with FI. There is significant, albeit modest, agreement between the characteristics of FI recorded with a diary and a questionnaire.