PELICAT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A prospective cross-sectional study to assess the modern psychometric properties of a new patient reported outcome measure for low anterior resection syndrome: Impact and Consequence Assessment Tool
IRAS ID
341213
Contact name
Julie Cornish
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Low Anterior Resection is an operation commonly performed during the treatment of bowel cancer. It involves removing a section of bowel with cancer, including the rectum (last bit of the bowel). 6 out of 10 patients who have the surgery experience bowel problems in the first 12 months after this study and 4 out of 10 have long-term bowel problems. These problems include having to rush to the toilet, having accidents or leakage into the underwear or difficulty fully emptying the bowels. This condition is called Low Anterior Resection Syndrome, or ‘LARS’ for short.
LARS is usually diagnosed with a test called the ‘LARS Score’. Patients fill out this test to show their care team how severe their symptoms are. This test is used worldwide and is good at identifying LARS. However, it doesn’t measure how symptoms change over time or with treatment, and it might not always reflect how severe patients feel their symptoms are.
To improve this, we’re developing new questions and a scoring method. We’ve worked with international experts and patients to create questions that measure the impact of LARS, not just its presence. Now, we need to test these questions on many patients and compare them to existing tests. We’ll recruit patients from hospitals in the UK to see whether they have LARS or not, and ask them to complete the new questions. Our team of experts will then analyse the responses to ensure the test is ready for clinical use.
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/SW/0126
Date of REC Opinion
14 Oct 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion