Aims: To assess women's self-perception of their pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contraction and its agreement with an assessed PFM contraction. Further, to assess a possible correlation between women's self-perception and reports of urinary incontinence (UI) and between PFM contraction and severity of UI. Methods:A cross-sectional observational study including 82 women. The study was conducted in a basic healthcare unit in Brazil. PFM contraction was assessed by a physiotherapist and estimated by women using the Modified Oxford Scale (MOS). UI symptoms were assessed using a validated questionnaire (ICIQ-UI-SF). A descriptive analysis of the data was performed. The weighted κ coefficient, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and Fisher's exact test were used to analyze data. Results: Eighty-two women with a mean age of 46.83 (±17.94) were analyzed.The majority (98.8%) believed they were able to voluntarily contract their PFM, but only 33% correctly estimated their PFM considering the examiner assessment as reference. No agreement (κ = 0.139, P = .087) was found between the examiner's classification and the women's estimation of their PFM contraction. Women's self-perception did not correlate with the ICIQ-IU-SF (r's = .011, P = .922). A moderate negative correlation was found between the assessed PFM contraction and the ICIQ-UI-SF score (r's = −.406, P = .00).Conclusion: Most of the women did not show an accurate self-perception of PFM contraction. No correlation between women's self-perception and the ICIQ-UI-SF score was found, but a negative correlation was found between the assessed PFM contraction and the ICIQ-UI-SF score. K E Y W O R D Sphysiotherapy, women's health, self-perception, urinary incontinence

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Introduction and aim Physiotherapy in urogynecology faces challenges to safely continuing its work, considering the adoption of social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some guidelines have already been published for urogynecology; however, no specific documents have been produced on physiotherapy in urogynecology. This article aimed to offer guidance regarding physiotherapy in urogynecology during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A group of experts in physiotherapy in women's health performed a literature search in the Pubmed, PEDro, Web of Science and Embase databases and proposed a clinical guideline for physiotherapy management of urogynecological disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. This document was reviewed by other physiotherapists and a multidisciplinary panel, which analyzed the suggested topics and reached consensus. The recommendations were grouped according to their similarities and allocated into categories. Results Four categories of recommendations (ethics and regulation issues, assessment of pelvic floor muscle function and dysfunction, health education and return to in-person care) were proposed. Telephysiotherapy and situations that need inperson care were also discussed. Regionalization is another topic that was considered. Conclusion This study provides some guidance for continuity of the physiotherapist's work in urogynecology during the COVID-19 pandemic, considering the World Health Organization recommendations and the epidemiological public health situation of each region. Telephysiotherapy can also be used to provide continuity of the care in this area during the COVID-19 pandemic, opening new perspectives for physiotherapy in urogynecology.

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Introduction: The effectiveness of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) depends on the correct prescription of intensity, repetition and endurance of muscle contractions, which are provided by an adequate assessment of pelvic floor muscle. Objective: Verify the techniques, resources and strategies used for clinical functional evaluation of female pelvic floor (PF) described in literature. Methods: It’s an integrative review of published studies and books from 2010 until December 2015. Relevant articles with complete description of PF evaluation were found through the use of Scielo, LILACS, PubMed and Medline databases. Results: 34 articles that fulfilled all the criteria were selected. Conclusion: The most used techniques, resources and strategies were: anamnesis, physical examination, measurement of pelvic floor muscle activity using Modified Oxford Scale or perineometry, and use of questionnaires to analyze patient's perspective of their own symptoms. Thus, we could use the parameters obtained in the evaluation to plan an ideal PFMT for each patient, so the physiotherapist would have a good database to analyze the evolution and define the end of therapy.

Aims: To investigate the intrarater reliability of visual inspection and digital palpation to classify women's ability to perform a voluntary pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contraction and the association between the two methods. Methods: This was a test-retest clinical study including 44 women. The ability to perform a PFM voluntary contraction was evaluated two times in all participants using visual inspection and digital palpation. All analyzed participants were assessed with a 7-day interval between the two assessments and by the same examiner. Kappa's agreement coefficient was used to estimate the intrarater reliability, and Fisher's exact test was used to analyze association between the two methods. Results: This study found a substantial intrarater reliability of visual inspection (k = 0.73; p < .001) and digital palpation (k = 0.74; p < .001). A significant association between visual inspection and digital palpation was found at both time points (p < .001). Conclusion: Both visual inspection and digital palpation have substantial intrarater reliability and visual inspection can be recommended when vaginal palpation is not tolerated.

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