App‐based pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postnatal women: A prospective cohort study exploring factors associated with prevention and improvement of urinary incontinence
Abstract Background and Aims Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) is recommended for continent pregnant women and postnatal women experiencing urinary incontinence (UI). The app Tät® has been developed for the treatment of stress UI with a focus on PFMT. The aim of this study was to investigate facto...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Health Science Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.781 |
| _version_ | 1827893173944320000 |
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| author | Erika Löjdahl Anna Lindam Ina Asklund |
| author_facet | Erika Löjdahl Anna Lindam Ina Asklund |
| author_sort | Erika Löjdahl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background and Aims Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) is recommended for continent pregnant women and postnatal women experiencing urinary incontinence (UI). The app Tät® has been developed for the treatment of stress UI with a focus on PFMT. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with the improvement of incontinence symptoms and retained continence in pregnant and postnatal women who used the app. Methods A prospective cohort study was carried out based on user questionnaires from the app Tät®. We included pregnant and postnatal women who answered the inclusion questionnaire between June 19, 2019 and September 19, 2020. The questionnaire included questions about the frequency and amount of leakage, the impact that UI has on everyday life, and experienced improvements at follow‐up. We analyzed factors associated with improvement and retained continence using logistic regression. Results We included 10,307 pregnant and 13,670 postnatal women, and 44% of the pregnant women and 52% of the postnatal women were incontinent. A total of 3680 women were included in the follow‐up analysis, and 52% of the pregnant incontinent women and 73% of the postnatal incontinent women experienced improvement. Pregnant women who performed PFMT and used the app at least once per week had increased odds of improvement (odds ratio [OR]: 1.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–3.29 and OR: 3.38, 95% CI: 1.94–5.90, respectively) compared to those who performed no training and had no app usage. Postnatal women who used the app at least once per week and had more severe incontinence had increased odds of improvement (OR: 4.26, 95% CI: 2.37–7.64 and OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.05–1.16, respectively). Conclusions The app Tät® is widely used by pregnant and postnatal women in Sweden for the prevention and treatment of UI. Majority of the women with incontinence experienced improvement after using the app. Regular PFMT and app use seemed to be important factors for experiencing improvement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:50:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-540a93d6ec564cc79c05676a8dcff419 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2398-8835 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:50:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health Science Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-540a93d6ec564cc79c05676a8dcff4192023-07-26T04:11:54ZengWileyHealth Science Reports2398-88352022-09-0155n/an/a10.1002/hsr2.781App‐based pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postnatal women: A prospective cohort study exploring factors associated with prevention and improvement of urinary incontinenceErika Löjdahl0Anna Lindam1Ina Asklund2Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine Umeå University Umeå SwedenDepartment of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Unit of Research, Education and Development, Östersund Hospital Umeå University Umeå SwedenDepartment of Public Health and Clinical Medicine Umeå University Umeå SwedenAbstract Background and Aims Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) is recommended for continent pregnant women and postnatal women experiencing urinary incontinence (UI). The app Tät® has been developed for the treatment of stress UI with a focus on PFMT. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with the improvement of incontinence symptoms and retained continence in pregnant and postnatal women who used the app. Methods A prospective cohort study was carried out based on user questionnaires from the app Tät®. We included pregnant and postnatal women who answered the inclusion questionnaire between June 19, 2019 and September 19, 2020. The questionnaire included questions about the frequency and amount of leakage, the impact that UI has on everyday life, and experienced improvements at follow‐up. We analyzed factors associated with improvement and retained continence using logistic regression. Results We included 10,307 pregnant and 13,670 postnatal women, and 44% of the pregnant women and 52% of the postnatal women were incontinent. A total of 3680 women were included in the follow‐up analysis, and 52% of the pregnant incontinent women and 73% of the postnatal incontinent women experienced improvement. Pregnant women who performed PFMT and used the app at least once per week had increased odds of improvement (odds ratio [OR]: 1.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–3.29 and OR: 3.38, 95% CI: 1.94–5.90, respectively) compared to those who performed no training and had no app usage. Postnatal women who used the app at least once per week and had more severe incontinence had increased odds of improvement (OR: 4.26, 95% CI: 2.37–7.64 and OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.05–1.16, respectively). Conclusions The app Tät® is widely used by pregnant and postnatal women in Sweden for the prevention and treatment of UI. Majority of the women with incontinence experienced improvement after using the app. Regular PFMT and app use seemed to be important factors for experiencing improvement.https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.781mobile applicationspelvic floor muscle trainingpostpartum periodpregnant womenself‐managementurinary incontinence |
| spellingShingle | Erika Löjdahl Anna Lindam Ina Asklund App‐based pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postnatal women: A prospective cohort study exploring factors associated with prevention and improvement of urinary incontinence Health Science Reports mobile applications pelvic floor muscle training postpartum period pregnant women self‐management urinary incontinence |
| title | App‐based pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postnatal women: A prospective cohort study exploring factors associated with prevention and improvement of urinary incontinence |
| title_full | App‐based pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postnatal women: A prospective cohort study exploring factors associated with prevention and improvement of urinary incontinence |
| title_fullStr | App‐based pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postnatal women: A prospective cohort study exploring factors associated with prevention and improvement of urinary incontinence |
| title_full_unstemmed | App‐based pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postnatal women: A prospective cohort study exploring factors associated with prevention and improvement of urinary incontinence |
| title_short | App‐based pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postnatal women: A prospective cohort study exploring factors associated with prevention and improvement of urinary incontinence |
| title_sort | app based pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant and postnatal women a prospective cohort study exploring factors associated with prevention and improvement of urinary incontinence |
| topic | mobile applications pelvic floor muscle training postpartum period pregnant women self‐management urinary incontinence |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.781 |
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