Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Pelvic Floor Muscle Training in Reducing Urinary Incontinence and Elevating Quality of Life in Women

Abstract

Background: Urinary incontinence is a com­plaint of involuntary loss of urine and often occurs in women due to bladder dysfunction or weakened pelvic floor muscles. Pelvic floor muscle training (PMFT) is an exercise to treat urinary incontinence. This study aimed to ana­lyze the effectiveness of pelvic floor muscle training to reduce urinary inconti­nence and improve quality of life in women. Subjects and Method: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis. The data was obtained through journal databases including PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar by selecting articles published in 2010-2020. The keywords used were ("pelvic floor muscle train­ing" OR "pelvic floor exercise" OR "kegel") AND ("urinary incontinence" OR "leaking urine" OR "urinary leakage") AND ("women" OR "fe­male") AND "quality of life" AND "rando­mized controlled trial". The inclu­sion criteria were full paper articles with the Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) research method. The size relation­ship used's of Mean SD, the intervention given was pelvic floor muscle training; female re­search subjects were 20-75 years old and ex­perienced urinary inconti­nence. Search articles were done by using the PICO model. Popu­lation= Women with urinary incontinence, In­ter­vention= pelvic floor muscle training, Com­parison= not given PMFT, and Outcome= de­creased urinary incontinence and improved quality of life. Articles were collected by using PRISMA flow diagrams and analyzed using the Revman 5.3 application. Results: Meta-analysis of 7 articles showed that pelvic floor muscle training could reduce urinary incontinence by 0.56 times higher compared to other interventions or no intervention (SMD= -0.56; 95% CI= -1.03 to -0.09; p= 0.020). Meta-analysis of 9 articles showed that pelvic floor muscle training improved quality of life by 0.32 times higher compared to other interventions or no intervention (SMD= -0.32; 95% CI= -0.66 to 0.02; p=0.070). Conclusion: Pelvic Floor Muscle Training (PMFT) reduces urinary incontinence and improves the quality of life in women. Keywords: pelvic floor muscle training, uri­nary incontinence, quality of life Correspondence: Ragil Aidil Fitriasari Addini. Masters Program in Public Health, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A, Surakarta 57126, Central Java. Email: ragilaidilfa@gmail.com. Mobile: 0896­09133808. Indonesian Journal of Medicine (2021), 06(03): 258-270 https://doi.org/10.269¬11/theijmed.2021.06.03.03