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Pelvic floor muscle training in groups versus individual or home treatment of women with urinary incontinence: systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

Urinary Incontinence (UI) in women is a condition that becomes more common with age. Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) is recommended as a first option of treatment for women with symptoms of stress urinary incontinence (SUI), mixed urinary incontinence (MUI), and for some with symptoms of urge urinary incontinence (UUI). PFMT can be performed in groups, individually, and at home, and there is no consensus as to which of the approaches is more efficient for the conservative treatment of UI. The objective was to perform a systematic review comparing the effects of group PFMT vs individual or home training in the treatment of women with UI.

Methods

Cochrane’s recommendations for systematic reviews were followed. The inclusion criteria were that the studies had been carried out in adult women who suffered from UI and who underwent PFMT in a group.

Results

Ten studies that fit the criteria previously mentioned were included in this systematic review. The meta-analysis showed that there was no difference when comparing PFMT in groups vs individual PFMT. However, when comparing PFMT in groups vs PFMT at home, the group intervention was more efficient in the treatment of UI.

Conclusion

PFMT is an efficient technique for the improvement of the symptoms of female UI. When PFMT was supervised by a physiotherapist, no significant difference was noted when comparing group with individual approaches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Curso de Fisioterapia da Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Dança da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil

    Luciana Laureano Paiva & Bruna Maciel Catarino

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Ginecologia e Obstetrícia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Franklin, 200/408, Itú Sabará, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil

    Lia Ferla, Caroline Darski & José Geraldo Lopes Ramos

Authors
  1. Luciana Laureano Paiva
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  2. Lia Ferla
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  4. Bruna Maciel Catarino
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  5. José Geraldo Lopes Ramos
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Correspondence to Lia Ferla.

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Paiva, L.L., Ferla, L., Darski, C. et al. Pelvic floor muscle training in groups versus individual or home treatment of women with urinary incontinence: systematic review and meta-analysis. Int Urogynecol J 28, 351–359 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-016-3133-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-016-3133-2

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