BMJ  2005;330 (12 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7487.0-b

Effect of intervention for postpartum incontinence wears off

The long term results of a nurse led conservative treatment for urinary and fecal incontinence in women after delivery are not as encouraging as the initial findings. In the original trial, Glazener and colleagues compared the effects of pelvic floor muscle training and bladder training or standard care one year after delivery, and found significantly lower prevalences of both urinary and fecal incontinence in the group that received the intervention. On page 337, they report the long term outcomes in 69% of the women participating in the original trial. At six years, the benefits seen at one year are no longer apparent: incontinence increased in both groups, and only about half of the women were still performing pelvic floor exercises—irrespective of original group assignment.

Credit: BLUESTONE/SPL

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Randomised controlled trial of conservative management of postnatal urinary and faecal incontinence: six year follow up

Cathryn M A Glazener, G Peter Herbison, Christine MacArthur, Adrian Grant, and P Don Wilson
BMJ 2005 330: 337. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]