ABSTRACT
AIM: The Neurogenic Bladder Symptom Score (NBSS) is widely used now for the bladder symptoms assessment in neurogenic low urinary tract dysfunction. It is suitable for all patients, regardless of a bladder management method. NBSS contains 24 questions, which focus on incontinence, storage and voiding symptoms, urinary complicationsand life quality.With the permission of the authors (Dr.Welk et al.), NBSS had been translated into Russian according to the cultural and lingual adaptation algorithm. OBJECTIVES: Validate the Russian version of NBSS for multiple sclerosis patients. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The study included 80respondents: group A - 40 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with neurogenic bladder, group B - 40 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients without bladder dysfunction, group C - healthy controls. All participants filled out the NBSS two times with an interval of two weeks. They also completed other measurement tools (IPSS,OAB Awareness Tool, WHOQOL BREF).Data were used to determine the internal consistency (Cronbachs alfa), external validity (Pearson correlation), and test-re-test reliability with interclass correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The mean of the NBSS total in the group A was 22.56+/-12.6, which significantly (p<0.001) exceeded score in comparable groups B (6.42+/-2.3) and C (5.31+/-1.9). The Cronbachs alfa of the total and the in continence, storage/voiding, and consequences domains was 0.939, 0,965, 0,801 and 0.712 respectively, which confirms the high internal consistency of the Russian version of the NBSS. External validity was verified by the relevant correlations with other questionnaires. Test-retest reliability was excellent. The interclass correlation coefficients were >0.85 (p<0.001) for all subdomains and the overall score. CONCLUSION: The Russian version of the NBSS demonstrated good validity and reliability and may be recommended for use in clinical practice.