Background
Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common morbidity experienced by post-stroke patients, which negatively impacts their motivation to participate in rehabilitation programs. Post-stroke UI is associated with significantly lower quality of life (QoL) in stroke survivors. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) in improving the severity of UI and QoL in post-stroke patients.
Method
A prospective multiple-case pilot study design was conducted in a Hong Kong regional hospital's acute stroke unit over three months. 378 cases were screened, and 14 patients were recruited as an experimental group without a control group. Five patients withdrew due to changes in their condition. The remaining participants completed a six-week trial of PFME training.
Results
UI severity was measured using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF) which is the highest level of validation scale for grading continence level. The mean ICIQ-UI SF scores improved significantly after PFME training. QoL was evaluated using the SF-36 questionnaire which is a well-researched scale to measure QoL. Although the total scores across the seven domains showed a non-significant statistical improvement, an overall positive trend was observed.
Conclusion
Initial findings suggest that PFME effectively reduces the severity of UI in post-stroke patients, with a positive trend toward improving QoL. However, further research with a larger sample size is needed to confirm these results.