Aim: To verify which one improves better stress urinary incontinence (SUI) symptoms: abdominal hypopressive technique (AHT) or pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT). Methods: Randomized controlled trial. Women with SUI who had not participated of physiotherapy program before were invited. The outcome measures were 7-day bladder diary, International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) and pelvic floor muscles (PFM) function measured by Modified Oxford grading System with vaginal palpation and manometry with Peritron. Intervention consisted by 12 weeks of exercises program including PFMT or AHT program, in groups of maximum three women, twice a week, with physiotherapist supervision. Results: AHT and PFMT groups reduced urinary leakage episodes in 7 days, −0.64 and −1.91, respectively, but PFMT was superior, whit mean difference −1.27 (95% confidence interval [CI]: −1.92 to −0,62) and effect size was 0.94 in favor to PFMT. Regarding to total score of ICIQ-SF, both groups improved, with mean difference between groups −4.7 (95% CI: −6.90 to −2.50) and effect size was 1.04 in favor to PFMT. Manometry also presented improvement after treatment for both groups with mean difference between them of 11 (95% CI: 6.33-15.67) and effect size was 1.15 also in favor to PFMT. Conclusion: Regarding to SUI symptoms, quality of life impact and PFM function both groups presented improvement, however, PFMT was superior to AHT among all of them.
Aims: To evaluate the reliability of different methods to normalize pelvic floor muscles (PFM) electromyography (EMG).Methods: Thirty nulliparous women (23.9 ± 3.2 years), free from PFM dysfunction, completed two test sessions 7 days apart. For EMG normalization, signals were acquired during four different tasks using a vaginal probe in situ:PFM maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and three daily activities with increased intra-abdominal pressure (coughing, Valsalva maneuver, and abdominal contraction). The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM), relative standard error of measurement (%SEM), and minimal detectable change (MDC) were calculated for each variable.
Results: ICC values for test-retest reliability of normalization methods ranged from 0.61 to 0.95. The highest values were obtained for mean root mean square (RMS) of the abdominal contraction and peak RMS of PFM-MVC. Normalization using RMS of PFM-MVC showed the lowest values of SEM and MDC.
Conclusions:The normalization of EMG data is considered a fundamental part of EMG investigations. These findings suggest that the normalization of PFM-EMG by either peak RMS of PFM-MVC or mean and peak RMS of abdominal contraction has excellent reliability and it can be applied in studies involving the evaluation of young women. K E Y W O R D S muscle activity, muscle contraction, pelvic floor, reliability, urinary continence | PEREIRA-BALDON ET AL.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.