Background The awareness and practice of pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) in the prevention and reduction of the rate of urinary incontinence among pregnant women was considerably poor, despite the increased prevalence of urinary incontinence during pregnancy across Malaysia. There healthcare providers do not give adequate attention to the potential impact of PFME on urinary incontinence and there is limited local intervention addressed urinary incontinence during pregnancy. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a newly developed PFME intervention in terms of knowledge, attitude, practice, self-efficacy, and urinary symptoms.
Methods A single-blinded, two-armed, randomized control trial was included pregnant women from 18 to 20 weeks of gestation and was conducted at the Maternity Hospital of Kuala Lumpur. The intervention group received PFME in addition to the usual perinatal care. The data were collected using validated questionnaires at 4 time points: baseline, post-intervention in the early third trimester, late third trimester, and early postnatal period. The intervention effects were analyzed using a generalized estimating equation.
Results The primary analysis included pregnant women who had at least one follow-up; 122 women (71.8%) in the intervention group had significant improvement in knowledge, attitude, practice, and self-efficacy, as well as in the severity of urinary incontinence over time. However, improvement was not observed in self-reported urinary incontinence.
Conclusion PFME can be considered an effective initial intervention to provide information about urinary incontinence prevention to pregnant women.
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Background Pelvic floor muscle exercise is effective for pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. Despite the high prevalence of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction in women in the community, pelvic floor muscle exercise recognition is low in Malaysian society; thus, this intervention is not frequently used . This study assessed the knowledge of, attitudes towards, and use of pelvic floor muscle exercise among antenatal women before and after educational classes. The study also determined factors associated with exercise practice.
Methods An interventional study was conducted in 121 antenatal women selected through systematic random sampling between June and December 2010. Baseline knowledge of, attitude towards, and practice of pelvic floor muscle exercise were assessed using self-administered validated questionnaires at first visit and at 2 months postpartum. All participants attended two exercise education classes on their next two visits before delivery. A paired ttest and multivariate analysis were used for data evaluation.
Results The mean pre-intervention scores for knowledge, attitudes, and practice were 24.98, 24.25, and 3.51, respectively, with statistically significant mean score increments after intervention (P<0.001). The mean differences were 4.67 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.86–5.49), 3.77 (95% CI, 3.05–4.50) and 3.45 (95% CI, 2.90–4.00) for knowledge, attitudes, and practice, respectively. Lack of baseline information on pelvic floor muscle exercise was significantly associated with practice change following an educational class.
Conclusion Education is effective in improving knowledge of, attitude towards, and practice of pelvic floor muscle exercise. There is a need for greater effort to increase exercise awareness in our community, especially during antenatal class.
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