Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise for the Treatment of Urinary Incontinence (UI) among Women in a Selected Community of New Delhi

Introduction: UI is one among the commonest problem faced by the women. The prevalence of UI worldwide ranges from 10% to 40%. It is a chronic condition which carries an enormous stigma. This stigma and lack of knowledge on urinary incontinence and the importance of performing pelvic floor exercises adversely affects the health in women. Pelvic floor muscle exercise is the most preferred method in managing urinary incontinence in all age groups and it is a non-Pharmacological, non-invasive method which in addition to that it is an easy method to practice and economical to follow by all age groups. The researcher felt the need to do the study on the effectiveness of Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise (PFME) for the treatment of Urinary Incontinence (UI) among women in a selected community of New Delhi with the objectives: • To assess the Pre- test urinary incontinence in Control & Experimental group. • To Implement the Pelvic floor Muscle Exercise on Experimental group. • To assess the Post –test urinary incontinence in control & experimental group. • To assess the effectiveness of pelvic floor muscle exercises in treatment of urinary incontinence. Materials and Methods: An experimental study with pre-test and post-test control group design was used for the study. The study was conducted in Sangam Vihar community. The total population of the study consisted of women in the age group of 50-70 years having Urinary Incontinence. Systematic random sampling technique was adopted to select 60 women who met the inclusion criteria; 30 in experimental group and 30 in control group. Pre and post intervention (Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise) Urinary Incontinence was assessed in the group with the help of Standardized assessment tool ICIQ-LUTS long form & 1 hour Pad testing. Result: The findings of the study revealed that in experimental group there was a significant reduction in the mean difference score of urinary tract symptoms from pre-test -post test mean difference score of (2.20) with the SD of (4.131) when compared to the control group where mean difference score was ( -0.37) with the SD (1.829). The t value was computed and found to be 3.112 which was greater than the table value of 2.00 at df (58) at 0.05 level of significance. The mean difference score proved that the pelvic floor muscle exercise was effective in reducing the symptoms in experimental group as compared to control group. There was significant reduction in the mean difference score of impact of urinary tract symptoms (20.63) with the SD of (30.07) in the experimental group when compared to the control groups where mean difference score was (1.566) with the SD of (6.806). The t value was computed and found to be 3.391 which was greater than the table value of 2.00 at df (58) at 0.05 level of significance. The mean difference score of pad weight was (0.156) with the SD (0.292) in the experimental group where in control group mean difference score was (-0.010) with the SD of 0.257. The t value was computed and found to be 2.343 which was greater than the table value of 2.00 at df (58) at 0.05 level of significance, showing that PFME was effective in the treatment of UI in experimental group. Conclusion: The findings of the study suggest that the Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise is effective in treatment of Urinary Incontinence among women in the age group of 50 to 70 years.