Review: pelvic floor muscle training is effective for stress or mixed urinary incontinence in women
QUESTION: Is pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) effective and safe for women with symptoms or urodynamic diagnoses of stress, urge, or mixed incontinence?
Data sources
The Cochrane Incontinence Group trials register (May 2000), the Cochrane Rehabilitation and Related Therapies Field (to 1998), Medline (1980–98), EMBASE/Excerpta Medica (1980–98), the database of the Dutch National Institute of Allied Health Professions (to 1998), Physiotherapy Index (to 1998), the proceedings of the International Continence Society (1980–2000), some physiotherapy journals, and reference lists of relevant papers. Also, experts in the field were contacted.
Study selection
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of PFMT in women with symptoms or urodynamic diagnoses of stress, urge, or mixed incontinence. PFMT was defined as a programme of repeated voluntary pelvic floor muscle contractions taught by a healthcare professional. Exclusion criteria included urinary incontinence with …
