National Poo Survey - Museum

The National Poo Survey: investigating the state of the nation’s poo

You must be over the age of 16 to participate in this study. If you do not wish to record your bowel movements or answer questions concerning your thoughts and feelings about going to the toilet, then please do not take part in this survey. You must have access to a mobile device, laptop or tablet to complete this survey. You must have the capacity to consent to participate in this study, as well as be able to understand English in order to answer the questionnaires included. Before you take part, please read the following information about the research and its aims.

Background
This study aims to survey the nation’s bowel movements and your thoughts and feelings about going to the toilet. Sometimes bathroom talk can make people uncomfortable. Everyone poos and it absolutely should not be an area of shame or embarrassment. But unfortunately, embarrassment happens and it can be a barrier to getting good medical treatment for the bowel issues you are experiencing or may experience. If you are not able to clearly articulate what you are experiencing in the bathroom, including your stool type, your doctor might not be able to provide the best interventions for you. This survey will help us understand the state of the nation’s poo and how people feel about going to the toilet.

Procedure
You will be asked to complete a survey concerning your thoughts and feelings about going to the toilet and then we will ask you to assess your bowel movements for 5 consecutive days. Taking part is completely voluntary.

You are free to withdraw from the study up to the point when you have submitted your last assessment of your bowel movements. After that it will be impossible to identify your data because it will be anonymous. You do not have to give a reason if you want to withdraw or do not want to take part in the study.

This study will take 15 minutes approximately to complete and recording your bowel movements will take a couple of minutes each day. Upon completion, you will be given a debrief sheet that will provide you with more information about the survey as well as contact details should you want to ask further questions.

Your data
Anonymity will be ensured throughout the entirety of the study. Should you wish to withdraw from the study you can do so at any point whilst completing the questionnaire and up to the point of submission of your last assessment of your bowel movement, after submission it will not be possible to withdraw your data because we will not be able to identify it.

Potential risks
As there are questions and ratings about your bowel movement, this could be potentially upsetting to those who have or have had anxiety concerning going to the toilet. This is why people who have these anxieties or have had these anxieties in the past have been advised not to participate. However, should you feel any distress during or after the study you can withdraw, or access mental support services.

Due to the sensitive nature of the research, if you do experience any distress during the questionnaire or feel like you need extra support, or if you note symptoms out of the norm please contact your local GP. Alternatively, contact:

Guts UK
Advice and Information https://gutscharity.org.uk/advice-and-information/

Helplines
Samaritans - A free 24-hour, confidential hotline for people in distress. Call 116 123 jo@samaritans.org

Benefits of the study
There are no direct benefits of participation in this research.

Confidentiality
All responses are anonymous and confidential. You won’t be asked to provide any identifying information about yourself, and no identifying information will be present in data storage or analysis.

Please contact Dr. Richard Joiner (pssrj@bath.ac.uk), or the Department of Psychology ethics committee (psychology-ethics@bath.ac.uk) for any further enquiries about the study or your participant’s rights.

Ethics Code PREC 22-088