Symptoms and Treatment Assessment of Ano-Rectal Disorders in Multiple Sclerosis Patients : STAR-Q

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is known to cause urinary disorders, sexual and bowel dysfunction. Urinary symptoms due to MS are well known and profit of multiple questionnaire or tool developed in MS patients. Prevalence of bowel disorders in MS is difficult to assess. Some studies up to 70% bowel disorders in MS patients. Constipation and fecal incontinence are the two main symptoms in neurogenic bowel dysfunction and frequently coexist in this population, generally in association with urinary disorders. Because of the high prevalence of bowel disorders their and the major impact on the quality of life of patients with Multiple sclerosis (PwMS) , and the cross-talk bladder-rectum (persistence of anorectal dysfunction leading to poor neurogenic bladder control) assessment of bowel disorders in MS is necessary. But this evaluation is difficult as no specific score exist. The neurogenic Bowel Dysfunction score (NBD) is often used. The NBD was developed and validated for spinal cord injury (SCI) population but not for PwMS MS. Yet NBD is often used in research for all neurologic patients despite its lack of sensibility in various neurogenic population other than spinal cord injury patient. As recommended in a Cochrane revue in 2014, there is a need of a specific evaluation for bowel symptoms in neurogenic population, especially for PwMS. The aim of the study was to create and validate a new multidimensional questionnaire to assess bowel dysfunction and impact on quality of life in patients with MS. The investigators conducted a prospective multicenter study (8 centers) between June 2019 to April 2021. This study was developed in 3 steps. First step was literature review and qualitative interview. Then the second step was the feasibility study to evaluate comprehension, acceptability of the different items. The last part of the study was the validation study of the questionnaire. This part of the study was performed between June2020 and April 2021. Validation study allowed to determine the psychometric properties of the new tool. Patients aged over 18 years with multiple sclerosis diagnosed on the 2017 revised McDonald\'s criteria were included. Patients not able to read or understand the objectives and procedures for conducting the protocol and patient who had a recent relapse of MS were excluded.