Improvement of quality of life, anxiety and depression after surgery in patients with stress urinary incontinence: Results of a longitudinal short-term follow-up
2008

Surgery vs. Pelvic Floor Training for Stress Urinary Incontinence

Sample size: 67 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Innerkofler Petra C, Guenther Verena, Rehder Peter, Kopp Martin, Nguyen-Van-Tam Dominic P, Giesinger Johannes M, Holzner Bernhard

Primary Institution: Innsbruck Medical University

Hypothesis

Patients undergoing surgery show higher improvement in QOL-scores at 8-week-follow-up with regard to the FACT-G and I-QOL than patients with pelvic floor training.

Conclusion

For female patients with SUI, surgery yielded a better outcome than pelvic floor training with regard to quality of life and anxiety.

Supporting Evidence

  • Surgical treatment showed significantly higher improvement in quality of life and anxiety compared to pelvic floor training.
  • 53 out of 67 patients completed both assessment time points.
  • Patients in the surgical group had a mean age of 59.8 years, while those in the pelvic floor training group had a mean age of 54.5 years.

Takeaway

Women with stress urinary incontinence feel better after surgery than after just doing exercises to strengthen their pelvic floor.

Methodology

A prospective longitudinal study comparing surgical treatment and pelvic floor training in female patients with stress urinary incontinence, using standardized questionnaires before and after treatment.

Potential Biases

The lack of randomization may introduce unknown confounders.

Limitations

The study did not assess the exact degree of SUI and had a short follow-up period of only eight weeks post-treatment.

Participant Demographics

67 female patients with a mean age of 57.4 years, average time since initial diagnosis of 7.6 years.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.05

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1477-7525-6-72

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