Prevalence of bowel symptoms in women with pelvic floor disorders

Introduction and hypothesis: To determine the prevalence of a variety of bowel symptoms in women with pelvic floor disorders Methods: We reviewed charts of consecutive new patients presenting to our urogynecologic clinic between July 2006 and April 2008. Women completed two bowel symptom questionnaires: (1) a nonvalidated questionnaire inquiring about symptoms of fecal/flatal incontinence, painful bowel movements, difficulties in bowel movement, and the need for splinting and (2) the validated, Colorectal-Anal Distress Inventory (CRADI) subscale of the short form of the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory. Demographic and clinical information were extracted from patients' charts. Results: Four hundred sixty-three women were included. Only 3% of the women presented with defecatory dysfunction or fecal incontinence as their chief complaint. However, 83% answered affirmatively to the presence of at least one CRADI bowel symptom. The most common bowel symptom was incomplete emptying at the end of a bowel movement (56%), followed by straining to have a bowel movement (55%), and flatal incontinence (54%). Conclusions: Women rarely seek urogynecologic care primarily for bowel symptoms, although they have a high prevalence of bowel symptoms.