NCT02748473

Effectiveness of Adding Voluntary Pelvic Floor Muscle Contraction to a Pilates Exercises Program

Effectiveness of Adding Voluntary Pelvic Floor Muscle Contraction to a Pilates Exercises Program: An Assessor-masked Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 57 (actual)
• Sponsor: Federal University of São Paulo · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: —
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Adding voluntary pelvic floor muscle contraction to a Pilates exercises program can improve the pelvic floor muscle strength on sedentary nulliparous women.

Detailed description

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of adding voluntary pelvic floor muscle contraction (PFMC) contraction to a Pilates exercise program on sedentary nulliparous women. Methods: Fifty-seven healthy nulliparous and physically inactive women were randomized to Pilates exercise program (PEP) with or without PFMC. Forty-eight women concluded this study (24 participants for each group). Every women evaluated before and after the PEP, by a one physiotherapist and an urogynecologist (UG). Both professionals were not revealed to them. This physiotherapist measured their pelvic floor muscle strength by using both, a perineometer (Peritron) and vaginal palpation (Oxford Scale) . The UG, who performed 3D perineal ultrasound exams, collected their data and evaluated the results for pubovisceral muscle thickness and the levator hiatus (LA) area. Both professional were masked to the group allocation. The protocol for both groups consisted of 24 bi-weekly 1-h individual sessions of Pilates exercises, developed by another physiotherapist who is specialized in PFM rehabilitation and Pilates technique. Group I: Pilates exercise program (PEP), involving only the Pilates exercises protocol without any instruction of a voluntary pelvic floor muscle contraction. I other words, the researcher had, under no circumstance, never explained anything about a voluntary pelvic floor muscle contraction during the Pilates exercise performance. Group II: Pilates exercises program with voluntary pelvic floor muscle contraction (PEP+PFMC) composed of a Pilates exercises program with voluntary pelvic floor contractions. This included maximum contraction of the pelvic floor muscles during expiratory period with 5 repetitions alternately, thus avoiding any muscle exhaustion pelvic floor that could happen.

Conditions

• Sedentary Lifestyle

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Pilates Exercises program	The volunteers were divided in two groups: Group I: Pilates exercise program involving only the Pilates exercises protocol Group II: Pilates exercises program with voluntary pelvic floor muscle contraction. The protocol of both groups consisted of 24 bi-weekly 1-h individual sessions of Pilates exercises program. Both groups performed the same protocol . For the group PEP + PFMC the instructor asked for the maximum contraction muscle of the pelvic floor muscle, during expirations with 5 repetitions performed alternately, thus avoiding pelvic floor muscle exhaustion. After the 24 sessions, both groups were retested with the same measured methods of the baseline.
OTHER	Pelvic floor muscle strength	evaluated the pelvic floor strength by oxford scale and vaginal pressure before and after the 12 sessions with Pilates Exercises Program on sedentary nulliparous women
OTHER	3D perineal ultrasound	evaluated the pubovisceral muscle thickness and levator hiatus area by 3D perineal ultrasound before and after the 12 sessions with Pilates Exercises Program on sedentary nulliparous women

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-05-01
• Primary completion: 2013-06-01
• Completion: 2015-09-01
• First posted: 2016-04-22
• Last updated: 2016-04-25