Is there a relationship between parity, pregnancy, back pain and incontinence?

Abstract

The aims of this study were to compare prevalence of back pain in parous, nulliparous, pregnant and non-pregnant women and to determine whether there is an association between incontinence and back pain in pregnant women. Associations between back pain, pregnancy, parity and incontinence were assessed in 14,779 younger and 14,099 mid-age women using chi-squared analysis. The odds of back pain were modelled with multinomial logistic regression. Back pain was more frequent in parous than nulliparous (p < 0.001) and pregnant than non-pregnant (p < 0.001) younger women. However, no associations were seen for mid-aged women. Pregnant women who had incontinence had increased odds ratios for 'often' and 'rarely or sometimes' having back pain (8.5 and 3.8, respectively). This study suggests that pregnancy may lead to earlier development of back pain, without affecting long-term prevalence. Incontinence and back pain may be related because of contribution of the trunk muscles to continence and lumbopelvic control.

A preliminary report of musculoskeletal dysfunction in female chronic pelvic pain: A blinded study of examination findings

“…Women with self-reported CPP in the Core Weakness cluster (Cluster 2) may conceivably be representative of women with CPP at a high vulnerability to develop future pain problems of the pelvic girdle e a hypothesis that needs to be tested in longitudinal study designs. Indeed, motor control and strength of core muscles have emerged in the literature as an important factor in low back and pelvic girdle pain (Ferreira et al, 2004;Smith et al, 2008). If core muscles are weak or the timing of activation and control of the muscles is altered by pain or other disruption, then compensatory mechanisms for muscle imbalances themselves may contribute to the patients' pain complaints.…”

Stability, continence and breathing: The role of fascia following pregnancy and delivery

“…Epidemiological data highlights that the development of pelvic floor dysfunction is also related to other disorders such as low back pain and breathing disorders (Pool-Goudzwaard et al, 2005;Smith et al, 2006aSmith et al, , 2007a. Wilson et al (2002) followed 7800 women after vaginal delivery and tracked the prevalence of UI.…”

“…The combined prevalence of lumbopelvic pain, incontinence and breathing disorders is slowly being understood (PoolGoudzwaard et al, 2005;Smith et al, 2007a). It is also clear that synergistic function of all trunk muscles is required for loads to be transferred effectively through the lumbopelvic region during multiple tasks of varying load, predictability and perceived threat (Hodges and Cholewicki, 2007).…”

Surface Electromiography (Semg) in the Assessment and Treatment of Pelvic Floor Muscles: The Importance of Signal Normalization and Procedure Standardization for Interpretation and Biofeedback

“…The pelvic floor muscles (PFM) form the floor of the pelvic base and have a dual function -providing trunk stability and continence [1][2][3]. The dysfunctions of PFM may be multifactorial and symptoms may appear such as urinary incontinence, lower back pain or weakness of spinal stability [2,3].…”

“…The dysfunctions of PFM may be multifactorial and symptoms may appear such as urinary incontinence, lower back pain or weakness of spinal stability [2,3]. Therefore, the proper diagnosis of these ailments requires complex evaluation.…”