Study design: International expert working group.
Objective: To develop an International Bowel Function Extended Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Data Set presenting a standardized format for the collection and reporting of an extended amount of information on bowel function.
Setting: Working group consisting of members appointed by the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) and the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS).
Methods: A draft prepared by the working group was reviewed by Executive Committee of the International SCI Standards and Data Sets and later by the ISCoS Scientific Committee and the ASIA Board. Relevant and interested scientific and professional organizations and societies (around 40) were also invited to review the data set and it was posted on the ISCoS and ASIA websites for 3 months to allow comments and suggestions. The ISCoS Scientific Committee, ISCoS Council and ASIA Board received the data set for final review and approval.
Results: The International Bowel Function Basic SCI Data Set includes 26 items providing a thorough description of bowel-related symptoms as well as clinical assessment of anal sphincter function and description of total gastrointestinal or segmental colorectal transit times.
Conclusion: An International Bowel Function Extended SCI Data Set has been developed. This Data Set is mainly for research purposes and it should be used in combination with the information obtained from the International SCI Core Data Set and the International Bowel Function Basic SCI Data Set.