The Use of Disposable Tampons as Visual Biofeedback in Pelvic Floor Muscle Training

María Zahara Pintos-Díaz, Paula Parás-Bravo, Cristina Alonso-Blanco, César Fernández- de-las-Peñas, María Paz-Zulueta, Mónica Cueli-Arce and Domingo Palacios-Ceña
Additional contact information
María Zahara Pintos-Díaz: Pelvic Floor Unit, Department of Rehabilitation, Hospital 12 Octubre, Madrid Health Service, Avda. Cordoba s/n, 28041 Madrid, Spain
Paula Parás-Bravo: Faculty of Nursing, University of Cantabria, Avda Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Cristina Alonso-Blanco: Department of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation, and Physical Medicine, University Rey Juan Carlos, Avda de Atenas s/n, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
César Fernández- de-las-Peñas: Department of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation, and Physical Medicine, University Rey Juan Carlos, Avda de Atenas s/n, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
María Paz-Zulueta: Faculty of Nursing, University of Cantabria, Avda Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Mónica Cueli-Arce: Faculty of Nursing, University of Cantabria, Avda Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Domingo Palacios-Ceña: Department of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation, and Physical Medicine, University Rey Juan Carlos, Avda de Atenas s/n, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 12, 1-11

Abstract: Background : Urinary incontinence represents a complex problem which commonly affects women and influences their physical, mental and social wellbeing. The objective was to determine the effect of pelvic floor muscle training using a tampon as visual biofeedback. Methods : A non-randomized clinical trial involving 60 women >18 years of age, both with, and without, urinary incontinence. All women exercised with a program involving visual biofeedback using disposable tampons at home for three months. The compliance rate was 76.8 ± 24.1 An electromyographic assessment of the pelvic floor was performed and assessments of the impact of the exercise program. Results : 54.5% of women without incontinence and 81.6% of women incontinence reported improvements ( p = 0.041). In both groups, there was increased quality life ( p > 0.05). The women without incontinence experienced greater improvement in the quality of their sexual relations (Pre 6.8 ± 1.4–Post 7.2 ± 1.0). Conclusions : After the intervention, a high percentage of women showed a statistically significant improvement in their symptoms. The participants reported an increase in quality of life and the women without incontinence reported an improvement in quality of their sexual relations. Our findings suggest that visual BFB for training the PFM may be beneficial for women with or without incontinence.

Keywords: Tampon; muscle strength; pelvic floor; biofeedback; urinary incontinence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/12/2143/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/12/2143/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:12:p:2143-:d:240572

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().