2024-02-05 11:10:09
The urinary incontinence that women suffer throughout their lives could lead them to face a disability, for which abdominal and pelvic health programs are beneficial.
Urinary incontinence affects many women at some point in their lives, and of those, between 30% and 50% may have an increased chance of facing disability, researchers at Rush University School of Medicine in Washington suggest. Chicago (USA), in a study published in the Magazine ‘Menopause’.
“Often, the symptoms of urinary incontinence are ignored until they become bothersome or limit physical or social activities,” said Dr. Sheila Dugan, chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at RUSH.
Some women leak urine when they sneeze or cough, called stress incontinence. “When you sneeze or cough, there is a mechanical pressure from your abdomen that exceeds the sphincter and causes leaks,” said expert stated. It can also be urge incontinence, which is a strong urge to urinate. “Women who experience both have what is called mixed urinary incontinence,” Dr. Dugan specified.
The researchers considered the amount and frequency of incontinence and whether the study participant had stress incontinence, urge incontinence, or both. They then measured disability using the World Health Organization rating scale as the outcome of interest. “We found that mixed incontinence was the one that had the greatest correlation with disability, along with daily incontinence and greater amounts of incontinence,” said the person responsible for the study.
To alleviate these effects, this team has the Abdominal and Pelvic Health Program that treats various types of conditions, including urinary incontinence. Each patient is examined to determine the causes and treatment options. For example, muscles are tested to find out if tight bands in the muscles are causing incontinence or if weak muscles are to blame.
“The pelvic floor muscles support the pelvic organs and problems in these organs can lead to other muscles or vice versa. A patient may have incontinence due to hip arthritis, or a difficult birth, or it may be caused by cancer treatment, for example, radiation to the pelvic area.”
In fact, “because this study suggests that urinary incontinence is associated with disability, exploring treatment options early may help reduce this outcome in middle-aged women,” Dugan concluded. M.T.T./L.D.B. (SyM)
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