Meta-analysis of Perinatal Pelvic Floor Muscle Training on Urinary Incontinence

Abstract

This study was to evaluate the effect of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) on urinary incontinence (UI) in prenatal and postnatal women. The relevant literatures were searched from Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science until January 20, 2020. Meta-analysis was performed with STATA 15.1 and the Begg’s test was used for the publication bias. Results of the meta-analysis demonstrated that the rate of UI in the intervention group was lower than that in the control group [relative risk (RR): 0.712, 95%confidence intervals (CI): 0.622–0.816, P<0.001); the strength of pelvic floor muscle in the intervention group was higher than that in the control group [weighted mean difference (WMD): 8.448, 95%CI: 2.300–14.595, P=0.007); and the urine leakage measured by the urinal pad in the intervention group was less than that in the control group (WMD: -1.699, 95%CI:-2.428–-0.970, P<0.001). PFMT showed a better effect for UI than the routine nursing.