Effect of Abdominal Versus Pelvic Floor Muscles Exercises on Vaginal and Leak Point Pressures in Mild Stress Urinary Incontinence in Obese Women

Objective: To compare the benefits of 12 weeks abdominal and pelvic floor muscles (PFM) strength training for mild stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in obese women. Design: A randomized control trial with three months follow up. Setting: Bab El Sharia University Hospital. Subjects: Thirty female obese patients with mild SUI. Intervention: Abdominal exercises (Abd. ex's) group (n=15) received specific exercises for transversus abdominis and internal obliqus muscles. Whereas, pelvic floor exercises (PF ex's) group (n=15) received pelvic floor exercises. Main outcome measures: Vaginal pressure, leak point pressure (LPP) and waist hip ratio (WHR) were measured for both groups at three intervals (baseline, 12 weeks of intervention and 3months follow up i.e. 24 weeks from the start of the study). Results: Both abdominal and pelvic floor groups showed a significant increase in vaginal pressure after 12 weeks of intervention (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.021, respectively) and at follow up (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.009, respectively) compared to baseline. This effect was greater for Abd. ex's group at 12 weeks (p < 0.041) and at follow up (p < 0.022) when compared with PF ex's group. Also, both abdominal and pelvic floor groups showed a significant increase in LPP after 12 weeks of treatment (p < 0.001 and p < 0.008, respectively) and at follow up (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.007, respectively) compared to baseline; there were no significant differences between the two groups at these time points. Conclusion: Overall, the results of this study suggest that 12 weeks of abdominal muscles strengthening training has superior effects compared to pelvic floor strength training for mild SUI in obese patients. [Dalia M. Kamel Ali A. Thabet Sayed A. Tantawy and Mohamed M. Radwan Effect of Abdominal Versus Pelvic Floor Muscles Exercises on Vaginal and Leak Point Pressures in Mild Stress Urinary Incontinence in Obese Women] Life Science Journal,. 2011; 8(4):542-549] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com.