Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a major health problem affecting approximately 50% of the female population over 45 years of age. We evaluated the therapeutic effects of a home-based non-invasive wireless sensor pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) device with assisted Kegel exercise for SUI.
We included sixty women aged 40 to 60 years who were diagnosed with urodynamic SUI (mean pad test, 10.52 g). The PFMT device applicator was clamped on the upper inner thigh, and the patients could self-train at home. The signal was recorded and delivered to a 3G/4G smartphone via Bluetooth, which also allows guided feedback via the smartphone's voice. To evaluate the therapeutic effect, all patients completed the following questionnaires: a 3-day bladder diary, the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF), the Urogenital Distress Inventory-Short Form (UDI-6-SF), and the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7). One-hour pad test measurements were performed before the test (M0) and at 1 (M1), 2 months (M2), and 3 months (M3) after the PFMT device-assisted Kegel exercise.
The one-hour pad test and the scores of the ICIQ-SF, UDI-6, and IIQ-7 questionnaires were improved at M1, M2, and M3, compared with the M0 values. The mean value of the post-voiding residual urine (PVR) significantly decreased at M2 and M3. The subjective and objective improvement rates at M3 were 80% and 72%, respectively.
The data demonstrated that 3 months of Kegel exercise assisted with a home-based PFMT device improved the number and severity of episodes, post-voiding residual urine, and quality of life (QoL) in patients with SUI, suggesting that this device might serve as an alternative non-invasive therapy for mild and moderate SUI.
Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA. 2021 Nov 09 [Epub ahead of print]
Huann-Cheng Horng, Wei-Ting Chao, Jui-Fa Chen, Chia-Pei Chang, Peng-Hui Wang, Po-Lun Chang
Institute of BioMedical Informatics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, Tamkang University, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC.