Reliability of the international spinal cord injury bowel function basic and extended data sets.

Abstract

This study was designed as an international validation study. The objective of this study was to assess the inter-rater reliability of the International Spinal Cord Injury Bowel Function Basic and Extended Data Sets. Three European spinal cord injury centers. In total, 73 subjects with spinal cord injury and a history of bowel dysfunction, out of which 77% were men and median age of the subjects was 49 years (range 20-81), were studied. The inter-rater reliability was estimated by having two raters complete both data sets on the same subject. First and second tests were separated by 14 days. Cohen's kappa was computed as a measure of agreement between raters. Inter-rater reliability assessed by kappa statistics was very good (≥0.81) in 5 items, good (0.61-0.80) in 11 items, moderate (0.41-0.60) in 20 items, fair (0.21-0.40) in 11 and poor (<0.20) in 5 items. Most items within the International Spinal Cord Injury Bowel Function Data sets have acceptable inter-rater reliability and are useful tools for data collection in international clinical practice and research. However, minor adjustments are recommended.