Bowel management related quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis: psychometric evaluation of the QoL-BM measure

Background

Bowel dysfunction affects quality of life (QoL) of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Existing QoL measures specific to MS disease contain little or no assessment of bowel dysfunction. The Quality of Life Scoring Tool Relating to Bowel Management (QoL-BM) developed for spinal cord injured patients may be relevant for MS patients.

Objective

Determine reliability and validity of the QoL-BM scale with MS patients.

Method

The North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis randomly selected 700 MS patients from their registry resulting in 502 respondents who completed the QoL-BM scale, Bowel Function Questionnaire for MS persons (Constipation, Fecal Incontinence, both Constipation and Fecal Incontinence), Patient Derived Disease Steps (mild, moderate, severe disability), MS classification (Relapsing-Remitting MS, Secondary Progressive MS), and demographic sheet.

Results

Factor analysis of the QoL-BM scale resulted in two subscales: Management and Relationships. Reliability coefficients for total and subscales were: .90, .86, and .83, respectively. Known-group validity was demonstrated as QoL-BM total scale and subscale scores differed significantly according to type of bowel dysfunction and disability level.

Conclusion

The QoL-BM scale provides information on current bowel status and its impact on QoL for MS patients.