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Effect of a Specific Exercise Program During Pregnancy on Diastasis Recti Abdominis

NCT04960800 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 100

Last updated 2021-07-22

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Diastasis Rectus abdominis is a common condition in pregnant and postpartum women, where the connective tissue between the two muscle bellies of the rectus abdominis muscle is stretched and weakened, causing an increased inter-rectus distance. Treatment of this condition aim to reduce the inter-rectus distance, and conservative treatment including therapeutic exercise is the primary treatment of choice. To date, there is no generally accepted protocol of therapeutic exercises for this condition, and the evidence as to which exercise modality is the most effective and feasible in reducing the inter-rectus distance in women presenting with diastasis rectus abdominis is both sparse and weak. As this condition occur during the last two trimesters of pregnancy and as there is a paucity of high-quality studies on a pregnant population, investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial on the effect of a specific exercise program during pregnancy on diastasis rectus abdominis.

100 pregnant women in gestation week 25 presenting with diastasis rectus abdominis of ≥ 28 mm will be included. Participants will be allocated to either an intervention group or a control group by block randomization. The intervention group will participate in a 12-week specific exercise program, consisting of two group sessions and two self-managed sessions weekly. The control group will not participate in any exercise intervention; however, participants will be recommended to follow national guidelines for general exercise during pregnancy. Participants will be assessed prior to intervention, post intervention at gestation week 37, and 6 weeks, 6 and 12 months postpartum. The primary outcome measure will be change in the inter-rectus distance in mm, measured by two-dimensional ultrasonography.

Conditions

  • Diastasis Recti Abdominis
  • Pregnancy Related

Interventions

OTHER

Specific exercises

Specific exercises which aims to contract the recti abdominis combined with functional exercises with the aim to contract all the layers of the anterior abdominal wall. Strengthening dosage will be applied with 3 sets, containing between 8 and 12 repetitions of maximal load.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Norwegian Fund for Postgraduate Training in Physiotherapy

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of Bergen

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Inger Haukenes, PhD · University of Bergen

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-09-30
Primary Completion
2023-12-31
Completion
2023-12-31

Countries

  • Norway

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04960800 on ClinicalTrials.gov