- The Sacral Sparing Questionnaire is a survey of 5 questions involving various aspects of a patient’s bowel movement routine and what sensation is preserved in the anal area (e.g., can you feel the water temperature when washing, finger insertion during digital rectal stimulation).
- Each question is answered as: “yes”, “no”, or “N/A”.
ICF Domain
Body Functions ▶ Sensory and Pain
Administration
- Each item is answered either “Yes”, “No” or “N/A”.
- The items are assessed individually and are not summarized in a single score.
Number of Items
5
Equipment
None
Languages
N/A
Training Required
No advanced training required.
Availability
Can be found here.
# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 1
Interpretability
MCID: not established in SCI.
SEM: not established in SCI.
MDC: Mean Sensitivity and Specificity values:
- Q1: Sensitivity: 98%, Specificity: 92%
- Q2: Sensitivity: 88%, Specificity: 95%
- Q3: Sensitivity: 98%, Specificity: 94%
- Q4: Sensitivity: 96%, Specificity: 100%
- Q5 (w/ increased AST): Sensitivity: 100%, Specificity: 27%
- Q5 (w/o increased AST): Sensitivity: 89%, Specificity: 98%
(Liu et al. 2017)
Validity
- High Consistency Test between Sensation and Q1of questionnaire (κ coefficient = 0.91).
- High Consistency Test between S4-5 Sensation and Q2 of questionnaire (κ coefficient = 0.79).
- High Consistency Test between Deep Anal Pressure and Q3 of questionnaire (κ coefficient = 0.93).
- High Consistency Test between Deep Anal Pressure and Q4 of questionnaire (κ coefficient = 0.93).
- High Consistency Test between Voluntary Anal Compression and Q5 of questionnaire (κ coefficient = 0.70).
(Liu et al. 2017)
Reliability
Not established in SCI.
Responsiveness
No values were reported for the responsiveness of the 5-Item Sacral Sparing Questionnaire for the SCI population.
Floor/Ceiling Effect
No values were reported for the presence of floor/ceiling effects in the 5-Item Sacral Sparing Questionnaire for the SCI population.
Reviewers
Gurmaan Gill.
Date Last Updated
26 February 2019.
Liu N, Xing, H, Zhou M-W. Development and validation of a bowel-routine-based self-report questionnaire for sacral sparing after spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord. 2017;55(11):1010-1015. https://www.nature.com/articles/sc201777