Background

Athletes often report gastrointestinal (GI) complaints. Standardized validated tests validated in athletes are lacking.

Objective

The objective of the current study was to investigate the test–retest reliability of the gastrointestinal symptoms rating scale (GSRS), a disease-specific instrument of 15 items to quantify the severity of various GI symptoms.

Methods

For this purpose, a 3-week repeated measurements design was used. The mean difference (Wilcoxon signed rank test), associations (Spearman correlations), and systematic difference using Bland–Altman calculations for repeated measurements, as well as its internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) on testing day 1 and day 2 were analyzed, with significance set at p ≤ 0.05. A total of n = 70 well-trained athletes (26.1 ± 5.4 years, of which 40% were female) were included.

Results

A high Cronbach’s α for GSRS was found on testing day 1 (0.825), and day 2 (0.823), suggesting a good and comparable internal consistency of the questionnaire. When assessing the multilevel temporal stability for total GSRS scores (28.0, IQR 22.0–36.3 vs 26.5, IQR 18.0–35.0), there was a small but significant difference (Z = − 2.489, and p = 0.013), but a fair correlation between day scores (r = 0.68, p < 0.001), and a Bland–Altman reporting difference between questionnaires within 10% of the total GSRS score, without significant reporting bias (p = 0.38). In most cases, except for hunger, burping, and loose stools, the individual GSRS items were reported in line with total scores and similar for sex.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the GSRS is reliable when used with athletes, with good internal consistency for most symptoms independently of sex, except for hunger, burping, and loose stools.

中文翻译：

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胃肠道症状评定量表在训练有素的运动员中具有良好的重测信度，无论他们以前有没有自我识别的胃肠道不适

 背景

运动员经常报告胃肠道 （GI） 不适。缺乏在运动员中验证的标准化验证测试。

 目的

本研究的目的是调查胃肠道症状评定量表 （GSRS） 的重测信度，GSRS 是一种由 15 个项目组成的疾病特异性工具，用于量化各种胃肠道症状的严重程度。

 方法

为此，使用了为期 3 周的重复测量设计。分析了平均差 （Wilcoxon 符号秩检验）、关联 （Spearman 相关性） 和使用 Bland-Altman 计算进行重复测量的系统差异，以及测试第 1 天和第 2 天的内部一致性 （Cronbach 的 alpha），显着性设置为 p ≤ 0.05。共纳入 n = 70 名训练有素的运动员 （26.1 ± 5.4 岁，其中 40% 为女性）。

 结果

在测试第 1 天 （0.825） 和第 2 天 （0.823） 发现 GSRS 的 Cronbach α很高，表明问卷具有良好的可比性内部一致性。当评估 GSRS 总分的多级时间稳定性时（28.0，IQR 22.0-36.3 vs 26.5，IQR 18.0-35.0），存在微小但显著的差异（Z = − 2.489，p = 0.013），但日分数（r = 0.68，p < 0.001）与 Bland-Altman 报告问卷之间的差异在 GSRS 总分的 10% 以内，存在公平的相关性， 无显著报告偏倚 （p = 0.38）。在大多数情况下，除了饥饿、打嗝和稀便外，各个 GSRS 项目的报告与总分一致，性别相似。

 结论

总之，GSRS 在与运动员一起使用时是可靠的，除了饥饿、打嗝和稀便外，大多数症状与性别无关，具有良好的内部一致性。