The feasibility of using ecological momentary assessment to understand urinary and fecal incontinence experiences in adults with spina bifida: A 30-day study

Abstract

In this paper, we evaluate the feasibility of using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to understand urinary (UI) and fecal (FI) incontinence in adults with spina bifida (SB). As part of a larger 30-day prospective study to understand the incontinence in adults with SB (N = 89), participants completed end-of-day EMA diaries assessing the frequency and context of UI and FI. We used these data to assess the method feasibility across six dimensions: (a) compliance, or data entry which is consistent with study protocol and substantially complete; (b) reactivity, or behavior change attributed to study participation; (c) participant acceptability, or convenience and ease of method beneficial to compliance; (d) data capture, or the volume of incontinence behaviors collected; (e) the accuracy of incontinence reports; and f) participant-provided feedback for future studies. Participants were highly compliant with diary entry protocol and schedule: submitting 95.7% (2576/2700) of the expected total daily entries. The average completion time was two minutes. Neither the total number of submissions nor the completion time varied by demographic characteristics or health history. A sufficient volume of incontinence and affective outcomes were captured, with small downtrends in reporting of UI and affect over time. Exit survey recall was highly correlated with diary reports. Participants found the methodology to be acceptable, reported their experiences honestly, enjoyed and felt comfortable participating in the study and would engage in similar study in the future. Accurate information about the daily context of UI and FI is a key factor in the success of intervention or education programs relying on this information. Our findings demonstrate that EMA is a feasible way to describe UI and FI in adults with SB.