Validation of an instrument to assess barriers to care-seeking for accidental bowel leakage in women: the BCABL questionnaire

Heidi Wendell Brown, Meg E. Wise, Danielle Westenberg, Nicholas B. Schmuhl, Kelly Lewis Brezoczky, Rebecca G. Rogers, Melissa L. Constantine

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis: Fewer than 30% of women with accidental bowel leakage (ABL) seek care, despite the existence of effective, minimally invasive therapies. We developed and validated a condition-specific instrument to assess barriers to care-seeking for ABL in women. Methods: Adult women with ABL completed an electronic survey about condition severity, patient activation, previous care-seeking, and demographics. The Barriers to Care-seeking for Accidental Bowel Leakage (BCABL) instrument contained 42 potential items completed at baseline and again 2 weeks later. Paired t tests evaluated test–retest reliability. Factor analysis evaluated factor structure and guided item retention. Cronbach’s alpha evaluated internal consistency. Within and across factor item means generated a summary BCABL score used to evaluate scale validity with six external criterion measures. Results: Among 1,677 click-throughs, 736 (44%) entered the survey; 95% of eligible female respondents (427 out of 458) provided complete data. Fifty-three percent of respondents had previously sought care for their ABL; median age was 62 years (range 27–89); mean Vaizey score was 12.8 (SD = 5.0), indicating moderate to severe ABL. Test–retest reliability was excellent for all items. Factor extraction via oblique rotation resulted in the final structure of 16 items in six domains, within which internal consistency was high. All six external criterion measures correlated significantly with BCABL score. Conclusions: The BCABL questionnaire, with 16 items mapping to six domains, has excellent criterion validity and test–retest reliability when administered electronically in women with ABL. The BCABL can be used to identify care-seeking barriers for ABL in different populations, inform targeted interventions, and measure their effectiveness.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1319-1328
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Urogynecology Journal
Volume28
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH K12DK100022).

Funding Information:
Funding This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH K12DK100022).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, The International Urogynecological Association.

Keywords

  • Accidental bowel leakage
  • Barriers
  • Care-seeking
  • Fecal incontinence
  • Help-seeking
  • Validation

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