Urinary incontinence in spina bifida: Initial instrument validation.
The 11-item ISI-P is a reliable, ready-to-use tool for tracking urinary incontinence severity and bother in teens with spina bifida.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Schaaf et al. (2015) tested a new 11-item urine-leak questionnaire for teens with spina bifida.
They asked: does this short form measure what it claims and give steady scores?
What they found
The ISI-P showed strong internal consistency and a clear two-factor structure.
It is ready for clinics to track how often and how much urine leaks bother teens.
How this fits with other research
Rojahn et al. (2012) and Rojahn et al. (2012) found the same pattern with the 30-item BPI-S. Both short forms keep the reliability of longer tools while saving time.
Lundqvist (2011) also confirmed a multi-factor structure in a Swedish sample, showing the method travels across cultures.
These studies together support a trend: brief, focused scales can replace long ones without losing clinical value.
Why it matters
You now have a quick, teen-friendly way to measure urinary incontinence in spina bifida. Use the ISI-P at intake and every few months to show families clear progress. It takes under five minutes and needs no special gear.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to perform a psychometric assessment of the Incontinence Symptom Index-Pediatric (ISI-P) in a cohort of adolescents with spina bifida (SB) and neuropathic urinary incontinence (UI) to test its validity and reliability. The ISI-P, an 11-item instrument with domains for symptom severity and impairment, was self-administered by subjects 11-17 years old with SB and UI. Controls were 11-17 years old, with nephrolithiasis and no history of UI. Formal psychometric assessment included an evaluation of internal consistency, test re-test reliability and factor analysis. Of 78 study-eligible subjects we attempted to contact, 33 (66.7% female) with a median age of 13.1 years completed the ISI-P (42.3% response rate). 21 control patients also completed the ISI-P. Cronbach's alpha was 0.936 and 0.792 for the severity and bother factors respectively. The delta Chi-square test for the two-factor (vs. one-factor) model was significantly [χ(2)(89) = 107.823, p < 0.05] in favor of the former model with descriptive fit indices being excellent (e.g., comparative fit index = 0.969). Furthermore, category information analysis showed that all categories were associated with different threshold values, namely that each category contributed unique information for the measurement of the latent trait. In conclusion, the ISI-P has desirable psychometric properties for the measurement of UI symptom severity and impairment in adolescents with SB.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.01.008