A scoring system for the assessment of bowel and lower urinary tract symptoms in women

Abstract Objective To develop a simple scoring system for a validated 22-item questionnaire used to assess bowel and urinary dysfunction in women. Setting A urogynaecology clinic, a functional bowel clinic, a district general hospital and a general practice. Population One hundred and one women referred with functional bowel and/or urinary symptoms and 131 asymptomatic controls. Methods A user manual has been prepared. Individual responses to questions are categorised into normal and abnormal and odds ratio tests applied to reflect their sensitivity. Results Scoring methods have been detailed, and appropriate and sensitive cutoff points defined. Conclusions The use of this validated questionnaire is now aided by a user manual, facilitating health care evaluation research into the effects of pelvic surgery on pelvic floor symptomatology. A simple scoring system is provided, making the questionnaire a valuable and accessible research tool.