Adaptation to Spanish language and validation of the fecal incontinence quality of life scale.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to perform a psychometric evaluation of the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale in the Spanish language.


METHODS
Eleven hospitals in Spain participated in the study, which included 118 patients with active fecal incontinence. All the patients filled out a questionnaire on the severity of their incontinence, a general questionnaire of health (Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form), and a Spanish translation of the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale (Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida de Incontinencia Anal), which consists of 29 items in four domains: lifestyle, behavior, depression, and embarrassment. On a second visit, patients repeated the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale. For each domain, an evaluation was made of temporal reliability, internal reliability, the convergent validity with the generic questionnaire of health, and the discriminant validity correlating the domains of Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida de Incontinencia Anal with the severity of fecal incontinence.


RESULTS
For cultural adaptation, the answer alternatives for 14 items were modified. A total of 111 patients (94 percent) completed the study adequately. Temporal reliability (test-retest) was good for all domains except for embarrassment, which showed significant differences (P < 0.02). Internal reliability was good/excellent for all domains (Cronbach alpha >0.80, between 0.84 and 0.96). The four domains of Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida de Incontinencia Anal significantly correlated with the domains of the generic questionnaire on health (P < 0.01) and with the scale of severity of fecal incontinence (P < 0.001). All domains of Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida de Incontinencia Anal correlated negatively with the need to wear pads (P < 0.01) and with the presence of complete fecal incontinence.


CONCLUSIONS
The Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida de Incontinencia Anal incorporates sufficient requirements of reliability and validity to be applied to patients with fecal incontinence.
Minguez
Miguel
M
Department of Gastroenterology, Hospital Clinico Universitario, Valencia, Spain. mminguez@uv.es
Garrigues
Vicente
V
Soria
Maria Jose
MJ
Andreu
Montserrat
M
Mearin
Fermin
F
Clave
Pere
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005242:Fecal Incontinence / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index