Evaluation of the International Spinal Cord Injury Bowel Function Basic Data Set Version 2.0 in Children and Youth With Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Objectives: To establish the utility and feasibility of the International Spinal Cord Injury/Dysfunction (SCI/D) Bowel Function Basic Data Set Version 2.0 in pediatric SCI populations. Methods: This was a noninterventional, repeated measure design conducted in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, Kentucky, and South Carolina. The International Spinal Cord Injury/Dysfunction (SCI/D) Bowel Function Basic Data Set Version 2.0 was administered repeatedly, twice at the point of care and once over the phone. Time to complete the data set was recorded. Inter- and intrarater reliability was examined by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), and agreement between the bowel function basic data set variables and medical records was calculated using percentages. Intrarater reliability involved the same person administering the data once at the point of care and once over the phone. Results: Forty-one children/youth ages 1 to 20 years participated in this study. Average time to complete the data set was 5.17 minutes. Interrater reliability was good to excellent (ICC ≥ 0.75) for most variables. Five variables had moderate interrater reliability (ICC = 0.05–0.74) and three had poor interrater reliability (ICC < 0.05). With the exception of one variable that had poor intrarater reliability (constipating agent, ICC = 0.00) and one that approached moderate reliability (digital evacuation, ICC = 0.74), intrarater reliability was good to strong for every bowel variable (ICC = 0.88–1.00). Only 12 (32%) medical records had explicit documentation of one or more of the variables on the Basic Bowel Function Basic Data Set V2.0. Conclusion: The results support future research with a larger and more diverse sample of children with SCI to build upon the psychometric work described herein.