Table 1.

Bowel Symptom Questions and Responses from the Modified Manchester Health Questionnaire

Question	Bowel symptoms	Response levels	N (%) of women responding
“How often do you move your bowels each day?”	Frequency	• 1-2 times/day	65 (46%)
		• 3-4 times/day	45 (31%)
		• 5-6 times/day	6 (4%)
		• 7 or more times/day	3 (2%)
		• every other day	10 (7%)
		• < every other day	14 (10%)
“How often do you have a strong desire to move your bowels which makes you rush to the toilet?”	Urgency	• never	9 (6%)
		• occasionally	23 (16%)
		• sometimes	59 (40%)
		• most of the time	44 (30%)
		• all of the time	12 (8%)
“What percent of your bowel movements are hard or little balls?”	Hard stool consistency	• 0%	36 (25%)
		• 25%	64 (43%)
		• 50%	22 (15%)
		• 75%	19 (13%)
		• 100%	6 (4%)
“What percent of your bowel movements are loose or watery?”	Loose stool consistency	• 0%	26 (18%)
		• 25%	48 (33%)
		• 50%	43 (29%)
		• 75%	25 (17%)
		• 100%	5 (3%)