Pelvic floor disorders among indigenous women living in Xingu Indian Park, Brazil.

Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis: Current assessment for pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) allows comparison between different communities.

Methods: A total of 377 indigenous women living in Xingu Indian Park were evaluated. The pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POP-Q) was the system used to quantification the staging of pelvic support. The pelvic floor muscle strength was assessed by a perineometer. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine risk factors that were associated with prolapse.

Results: Only 5.8% of women reported urinary incontinence. The overall distribution of POP-Q stage system was the following: 15.6% stage 0, 19.4% stage I, 63.9% stage II and 0.8% stage III. Parity and age were the risk factors for pelvic organ prolapse (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: Urinary incontinence was uncommon in Xingu indigenous women. Like non-indigenous communities, age and parity were the most important risk factors to the genital prolapse.