IntroductionThis study is designed to assess the percentage share of musculus obliquus externus abdominis, musculus obliquus internus abdominis and musculus transversus abdominis activity among women with stress urinary incontinence using ultrasonography.Material and methodsMaterial and methods: The study is a retrospective analysis of prospective collected data of 84 women aged 23-62 years old. In the study group are women suffering from grade 1 or 2 stress urinary incontinence according to the Stamey classification, the control group consists of women with no micturition disorders. The abdominal muscles activity was measured by using the ultrasound imaging with assessment of muscle thickness.ResultsThe analysis of musculus obliquus externus abdominis in anterolateral abdominal wall activity shows a statistically significant difference between study and control group concerning isometric tension of abdominal muscles (p=0,012) and lower part of abdomen tension (p=0,004). Women with stress urinary incontinence present a higher activity of the musculus obliquus externus abdominis than controls. In the case of the musculus obliquus internus abdominis, statistically significant differences were shown during tension of the lower part of the abdomen (p=0,024). Comparison of activity of the musculus transversus abdominis between study and control groups shows a statistically significant difference during isometric tension of abdominal muscles (p=0,018).ConclusionsThe pattern of activity of the assessed muscles differs between the study group and the control group. In the study group, the activity pattern is concerning the higher activity of the musculus obliquus externus abdominis and the lower activity of the musculus obliquus internus abdominis and musculus transversus abdominis.
Urinary incontinence (UI) in women can cause a number of sexual dysfunctions and reduce their quality of life. Sexual health is essential to the self-esteem, emotional state, and overall quality of life. We aimed to assess the quality of sexual life of women with UI. The study included a group of 145 sexually active women diagnosed with UI. The research was conducted using the diagnostic survey method with authorial and validated questionnaires. As many as 49.1% of the respondents reported a deterioration of sexual relations in comparison with the time before the onset of UI symptoms. According to the FSDS-R results, 83.45% of respondents were dissatisfied with their sex life. The higher the result obtained by respondents in the FSDS-R scale, the lower was their quality of life in the IIQ-7 scale (p ≤ 0.002, R = 0.53). The greatest impact was observed in the domains of emotional health and physical activity. The more incontinence symptoms reported by the respondent in the UDI-6 scale, the worse was her sexual satisfaction in the FSDS-R (p = 0.003, R = 0.39). UI in women contributes to the development of sexual dysfunctions, including decreased interest in sexual life, limited intercourse, and dissatisfaction with sexual life.
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