• T Juul, N J Battersby, P Christensen, A Z Janjua, G Branagan, S Laurberg, K J Emmertsen, B Moran, and UK LARS Study Group.
• Department of Surgery - Section for Colorectal Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
• Colorectal Dis. 2015 Oct 1; 17 (10): 908-16.

AimMany patients having anterior resection for rectal cancer suffer from severe long-term bowel dysfunction, known as low anterior resection syndrome (LARS). The LARS score was developed in Denmark, and Swedish, Spanish and German versions have been validated. The aim of this study was to validate the English translation of the LARS score in British rectal cancer patients.MethodRectal cancer patients who underwent an anterior resection in 12 UK centres received the LARS score questionnaire, the EORTC QLQ-C30 and a single ad hoc quality of life question. A subgroup of patients received the LARS score questionnaire twice.ResultsThe response rate was 80% and 451 patients were included in the analyses. A strong association between LARS score and quality of life (convergent validity) was found (P < 0.01), discriminative validity was good (P < 0.02) and the test-retest reliability was high (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.83).ConclusionThe English translation of the LARS score has shown good psychometric properties comparable with recently published results from an international multicentre study. Thus, the English translation of the LARS score can be considered a valid and reliable tool for measuring LARS.Colorectal Disease © 2015 The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.

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