Measuring fecal incontinence.

The measurement of fecal incontinence is challenging. Because fecal incontinence is a symptom, the subjective perception of the patient must be the foundation of any evaluation of incontinence or the impact of incontinence. The lack of a criterion standard makes testing measures for reliability and validity more difficult. Despite this, many measures are available and can be divided into three broad categories: descriptive measures that do not provide summary scores; severity measures that assess the frequency and type of incontinence; and impact measures that assess the effect of incontinence on quality of life. The strengths and weaknesses of currently available measures are presented in this review.