COMPARISON AND EFFECT OF EIGHT WEEKS OF KEGEL EXERCISES AND STABILITY EXERCISES ON FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY, QUALITY OF LIFE AND URINARY INCONTINENCE IN WOMEN WITH STRESS URINARY INCONTINENCE AND BACK PAIN

Background & Aims: Back pain is one of the major problems in women around the world and nearly 80% of people have experienced it at least once in their lifetime. Urinary incontinence is also one of the most important problems in women, which is usually associated with back pain. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect and compare eight weeks of Kegel exercises and stability exercises on pain relief, urinary incontinence in women with urinary incontinence and back pain. Materials & Methods: In this quasi-experimental study and its design was a two-group study with pretest and posttest. For this purpose, 45 women with urinary incontinence and low back pain were randomly selected in 3 equal groups of 15 experimental (Kegel and stability) and control. In order to evaluate the factors of functional disability, quality of life and urinary incontinence, the ossoster questionnaire, quality of life questionnaire and urinary incontinence diagnosis form were used, respectively. Both experimental groups performed Kegel and stability exercises (3 sessions of 30 to 45 minutes per week) for 8 weeks. The control group did not perform any exercises during this period. Analysis of covariance at the significance level of (p≤0/05) was used to analyze the data. Results: According to these findings Both Kegel exercises and stability exercises had a significant effect on on functional disability, quality of life and urinary incontinence in women with stress urinary incontinence and back pain (P≤0.05). Conducting a between-group comparison also showed that which was related to the stability exercises and Kegel exercises, respectively (P≤0.05). Conclusion: According to these findings, stability exercises provided greater recuperation than Kegel exercises in women with urinary incontinence and back pain. However, further studies with a larger sample size are recommended to support the findings of the present study and to help prevent women with urinary incontinence and back pain