Bristol stool form scale

The Bristol stool form scale or BSF-Scale is a diagnostic aid to classify the human stool form into seven distinct groups. It was developed by researchers¹ at the Bristol Royal Infirmary² in the 1980's as what has been described as a "user-friendly" scale.

The Bristol stool form scale in full:-

• Type 1 - Separate hard lumps, like nuts
• Type 2 - Sausage-like but lumpy
• Type 3 - Like a sausage but with cracks in the surface
• Type 4 - Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft
• Type 5 - Soft blobs with clear-cut edges
• Type 6 - Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool
• Type 7 - Watery, no solid pieces

Apparently "the ideal stools are types 3 and 4, especially type 4, as they are most likely to glide out without any fuss whatsoever"³. Types 1 and 2 are indicate of constipation and types 5 and 6 of diarrhea.

The BSF-Scale is in common use by the medical profession in the United Kingdom but how widespread is its adoption throughout the rest of the world I do not know.

The British are in no way obsessed by the subject of bowel movements

NOTES AND SOURCES

¹ The nature of the research conducted I leave to your imagination.

² The Bristol Royal Infirmary commonly known as the 'BRI', a hospital in Bristol, England.

³ See Family Doctor Publications in association with the British Medical Association at http://www.familydoctor.co.uk/htdocs/BOWELS/BOWELS_specimen.html

⁴ Other sources consulted;
http://www.malehealth.co.uk/keyinfo/bowelstools.htm
http://www.bowelcontrol.org.uk/index.html