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Pelvic floor muscle training for female stress urinary incontinence: Five years outcomes
Author(s) -
Beyar Netta,
Groutz Asnat
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
neurourology and urodynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1520-6777
pISSN - 0733-2467
DOI - 10.1002/nau.22888
Subject(s) - medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , urinary incontinence , pelvic floor muscle , lower urinary tract symptoms , pelvic floor , physical therapy , surgery , prostate , nursing , cancer
Aim To evaluate the clinical status, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and quality of life (QOL) 5 years after completion of a pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) program for female stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Methods Two hundred and eight consecutive women who underwent a guided PFMT program as first‐line management of SUI were invited to participate in a questionnaire‐based outcome study 5 years after treatment. Primary outcome measures comprised of adherence to PFMT, interim surgery for SUI, and patients’ self‐assessment of LUTS and QOL. Results One hundred and thirty‐two (63%) women completed all questionnaires, 55 of whom (41.7%, mean age 52.1 ± 10.8) reported adherence to PFMT, 75 (56.8%, mean age 49.8 ± 10.8) discontinued training, and two (1.5%) underwent surgery. Further analysis of the 76 non‐responders revealed six more patients who underwent surgery. Thus, overall, eight patients (3.8% of the original cohort) underwent surgery within 5 years after completion of the training program. Except for those who underwent surgery, almost all women reported SUI, however their ICIQ‐UI scores for frequency and amount of leakage were low (2.2 ± 0.9, 1.18 ± 1.04, respectively) and I‐QOL score was high (96.2 ± 13.6). All investigated parameters and domains, in each of the three questionnaires and among all women, consistently demonstrated low severity of LUTS and relatively high continence‐associated QOL. There were no statistically significant differences in favor of adherence to PFMT. Conclusions Although relatively high rates of 5‐year adherence to training were demonstrated among our patients, this adherence was not associated with superior treatment outcomes. Further studies are needed to establish the long‐term efficacy of PFMT for SUI. Neurourol. Urodynam. 36:132–135, 2017 . © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.