Five-Item Score for Obstructed Defecation Syndrome

Abstract

The use of a dedicated score represents an essential tool for the clinical staging of obstructed defecation syndrome (ODS), for subsequent diagnostic and therapeutic options, and for the evaluation of the results. This study was designed to develop and validate a new, simple, and disease-specific scoring system for ODS. The questionnaire consists of 5 items: excessive straining, incomplete rectal evacuation, use of enemas and/or laxatives, vaginal-anal-perineal digitations, and abdominal discomfort and/or pain. Each item was graded from 0 to 5 with a score ranging from 0 ( no symptoms) to 20 ( very severe symptoms). A specific statistical analysis identifies the new score as a valuable and concise instrument, which demonstrates, overall, excellent concurrent validity, reproducibility, internal consistency, and discriminant validity for the diagnosis and grading of ODS. The use of this questionnaire may improve uniformity in clinical research and may allow a more precise evaluation of symptom severity and treatment effectiveness in ODS.