Early functional results of biofeedback and its impact on quality of life of patients with anal incontinence.

CONTEXT Biofeedback has been used successfully in the treatment of fecal incontinence, working mainly on rehabilitation of the sphincter muscle. However, there are few studies presenting objective results of biofeedback, in terms of functional results and those related to the quality of life. OBJECTIVES The aims of this study was to evaluate the immediate results of biofeedback in the treatment of fecal incontinence and its impact on the quality of life of patients by using validated questionnaires, correlating the results with those related to functional parameters of quality of life and clinical variables. METHODS We analyzed and compared the results of biofeedback in 52 patients with fecal incontinence before the start of the sessions and immediately after the end of them, by applying validated questionnaires assessing the degree of intensity of fecal incontinence (FISI - Fecal Incontinence Severity Index) and evaluation of quality of life related to fecal incontinence (FIQL - Faecal Incontinence Quality of Life Scale) as compared to clinical variables (age, onset of symptoms, etiology of the fecal incontinence, number of sessions of biofeedback and number and types of deliveries). RESULTS The evaluation of the results of FISI showed a significant increase in the number of individuals who had low severity scores of symptoms before and after the biofeedback (from 48.1 to 65.4%) with P = 0.004. There was significant improvements in domains of the FIQL, behavior (P = 0.008), depression (P = 0.006) and embarrassment (P = 0.008) after biofeedback. There was no significant correlation between the improvement of functional parameters evaluated by FISI and the improvement of quality of life. Positive correlation was found between the improvements of the domains of FIQL. There was no significant correlation between the results obtained using the FISI and FIQL with clinical variables assessed. CONCLUSIONS Biofeedback has proven to be an effective therapy in the treatment of fecal incontinence, improving symptoms and/or quality of life for most patients, regardless of clinical presentation of this functional disorder.