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Reliability of the international spinal cord injury bowel function basic and extended data sets
T Juul1, G Bazzocchi, M Coggrave
1Surgical Research Unit, Department of Surgery P, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. therjuul@rm.dk
Spinal Cord
|March 30, 2011
Summary
The International Spinal Cord Injury Bowel Function Data Sets show good reliability for most items, aiding clinical practice and research. Minor adjustments are suggested for optimal data collection in spinal cord injury patients.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Clinical Data Standardization
Background:
- Spinal cord injury (SCI) frequently leads to bowel dysfunction, impacting patient quality of life.
- Standardized data collection tools are crucial for consistent clinical practice and research in SCI.
- The International Spinal Cord Injury Bowel Function Basic and Extended Data Sets were developed to address this need.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the International Spinal Cord Injury Bowel Function Basic and Extended Data Sets.
- To determine the consistency of data collection using these standardized tools across different raters.
Main Methods:
- An international validation study involving three European SCI centers.
- Seventy-three subjects with SCI and bowel dysfunction participated.
- Two raters independently completed the data sets for each subject, with a 14-day interval between assessments. Cohen's kappa was used to measure agreement.
Main Results:
- Inter-rater reliability varied across items, with 5 items showing very good agreement (kappa ≥0.81).
- A significant number of items demonstrated good to moderate reliability (kappa 0.41-0.80).
- Five items showed poor reliability (<0.20), indicating areas for potential improvement.
Conclusions:
- The International Spinal Cord Injury Bowel Function Data Sets are largely reliable and valuable for SCI research and clinical data collection.
- Most items possess acceptable inter-rater reliability, supporting their use in international settings.
- Minor modifications to specific items are recommended to enhance overall data collection consistency.
