Instruments for the Assessment of Fecal and Anal Incontinence: A Scoping Review

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Fecal and anal incontinence (FI/AI) significantly impact physical, emotional, and social aspects of quality of life. Accurate assessment tools are essential for diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment evaluation. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted following Arksey and O'Malley's framework. Searches were performed in EMBASE, MEDLINE (PubMed), and PEDro from database earliest available records to February 2025. Studies on development, validation, or cross-cultural adaptation of FI/AI assessment tools in English or Portuguese were included. RESULTS: Fifty-two studies describing 52 assessment instruments were included. The majority of tools were self-administered questionnaires (n = 34, 65.4%) and primarily assessed quality of life. Only a minority reported complete psychometric validation and formal cross-cultural adaptation procedures, and few instruments addressed objective anorectal motor or sensory function. CONCLUSIONS: Although several instruments are available, important gaps remain, particularly regarding functional evaluation, psychometric completeness, and cross-cultural adaptation.