title: [Quality of life and its association with the severity of fecal incontinence].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Wexner's score is widely used to assess the severity of fecal incontinence (FI). The 36-item short form health survey (SF-36) and the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale (FIQLS), a disease-specific scale, are instruments measuring quality of life that have been validated into Spanish.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate quality of life in patients with FI by using the FIQL and SF-36 scales to correlate the results with the Wexner's score.
  
  
  METHODS
  Wexner's score, SF-36 and FIQLS were completed by 73 patients. The cut-off point for severity, as previously published, was 9 (Wexner's score <9=mild FI; Wexner's score ≥9=severe FI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  the scores for all SF-36 sub-scales were lower in patients with FI than in the healthy Spanish population (p<0.001). The mental component of the SF-36 correlated with the subscales of «behavior» and «embarrassment» of the FIQLS (p<0.05). Wexner's score correlated with all the domains of the FIQLS (p<0.01). The results for all the domains of the FIQLS were lower for the Wexner ≥ 9 group than for the Wexner <9 group (p<0.001). There was no significant correlation between Wexner's score and the SF-36. Age, urge and daily FI, comorbidity and anorectal surgery worsened different aspects of quality of life measured by the FIQLS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  quality of life measured by the SF-36 and FIQLS was substantially impaired in patients with FI. The severity of FI correlated with FIQLS. Other factors such as age, type and frequency of FI should be considered when evaluating quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Hospital de 12 de Octubre, Madrid, España. constanzacarpa@gmail.com
authors.forename: Constanza
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ciriza de Los Ríos
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruiz de León
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: García Durán
authors.forename: Esperanza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tomás Moros
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Carneros Martín
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Muñoz Yagüe
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Canga Rodríguez-Valcárcel
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Castellano Tortajada
mesh_terms: D005242:Fecal Incontinence / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires