Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises and Core Exercises in Menopausal Women

Summary

The prospective and four-arm randomized controlled study was conducted on n = 136 (34 = control, 34 = kegel, 34 = core, 34 = kegel+ core group) menopausal women at Trakya University Health Research and Application Center Urology Polyclinic between Oct 2023 and June 2024. In the first interview, the researcher will apply an information form to all four groups, asking about personal information, habits, bladder irritants and fluid intake-related features, obstetric, gynecological and systemic disease-related features, and stress urinary incontinence-related features. This form will only be filled at the beginning. In addition, the \"Pelvic Floor Distress Scale (PFDI)\" and \"Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ)\" will be applied and will be repeated by the executive researcher at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd controls. It will be terminated at the 3rd follow-up. Descriptive statistics, Pearson, Spearman\'s correlation, and regression analyzes will be used in the analysis of research data.

Conditions

• Menopause
• Stress Urinary Incontinence
• Kegel Exercises
• Core Strength

Interventions

OTHER

Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise

Training for PFME will be given orally and will cover the importance of FME and how to do the exercises, as well as the conditions and frequency of doing the exercises. You will be told that the exercise should be done when the bladder is empty, three times a day (morning, noon and evening) and repeated 10 times in each set. In the first week of exercise, the pelvic floor muscles will be contracted for 3 seconds and relaxed for 3 seconds, and will be increased by 1 second each week. It will be explained that from the 8th week onwards, it will be done by contracting for 10 seconds and relaxing for 10 seconds and will continue. It will be stated that the learning process of pelvic floor muscle exercise may take 6 weeks to 6 months. It will be stated that this exercise should be applied throughout their lives for the sustainability of PFM strength. The training is planned to last approximately 20 minutes. PFME will last for two months. Women in menopause will be given an exercise chart.

OTHER

Core Exercise

Activating the contraction of the deep core muscles TrA and mutifidus without disrupting breathing forms the basis of core stabilization exercises. To teach the \"abdominal hallowing\" maneuver, which enables the activation of these muscles, patients will be shown a picture of the TrA muscle and asked to contract their lower abdominal muscles while lying on their back in the hook position. During the maneuver, care will be taken to ensure that no movement occurs in the trunk and pelvis and that diaphragmatic breathing continues. After the abdominal hallowing maneuver is taught, the exercises will be progressed gradually. A home exercise program will be given for this. The 7-level exercise program recommended by Hagins et al. will be used as a home exercise program. The movements in this program load more moments on the muscles that stabilize the lumbar spine as the levels progress. The stages of the exercise program are shared in the brochure to be given to the patients.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Trakya University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

45 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-10-15

Primary Completion

2024-04-20

Completion

2024-09-30

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations