A Comparison of Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises and Spinal Stabilization Exercises in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence.

Introduction and hypothesis: The objective was to compare the effects of pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) and spinal stabilization exercise (SSE) on urinary symptoms, pelvic floor muscle strength (PFMS), quality of life (QoL), core stability, balance, spinal posture, and perception of subjective improvement (PSI) in women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Methods: Patients were randomly divided into PFME (n = 25) and SSE (n = 25) groups. The exercises of both groups was applied 3 days a week for 8 weeks. Urinary symptoms, PFMS, QoL, core stability, balance, spinal posture, and PSI were assessed using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) and pad test, the Modified Oxford Scale (MOS), the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ), the Sahrmann test, the Biodex Balance System, a Spinal Mouse device, and a Likert-type scale respectively.

Results: The ICIQ-SF, pad test, KHQ, and static balance scores of both groups decreased, whereas the MOS and Sahrmann scores increased (p < 0.05). All balance scores and sacral angles decreased in the SSE group (p < 0.05). The KHQ-Physical and KHQ-Emotional scores decreased more in the PFME group than in the SSE group, whereas core stability increased more and sacral angle decreased more in the SSE group than in the PFME group (p < 0.05). The PSI were similar (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Both PFME and SSE were effective in improving urinary symptoms, PFMS, QoL, and PSI in women with SUI. SSE was superior to PFME in improving core stability, balance, and sacral position. SSE may be an alternative method in the treatment of SUI.