NCT03986411

Physiotherapy to Treat Urinary Incontinence in Athletes

Physiotherapy Management of Urinary Incontinence in Athletic Women- A Feasibility Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 19 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Nottingham · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Nearly half of all adult women suffer with Urinary incontinence (UI), this is more common in athletes. UI is considered to be due to weak pelvic floor muscles. Standard advice encourages strength and endurance training; however, assessment of pelvic floor muscles can sometimes reveal overactive or tight tissues. Evidence suggests athletes have stronger pelvic floors than non-athletes. If the pelvic floor is overactive, general advice regarding pelvic floor strengthening will not improve UI, and may make it worse. This study will explore the feasibility of conducting a larger trial to identify cost effectiveness and benefits of treating athletes with physiotherapy and how this might differ from current practice. 15 -20 athletic women will complete questionnaires regarding their UI and its effects on them. They will receive physiotherapy; the assessment will include a history and internal examination of their pelvic floor. This will inform a tailored rehabilitation program. Interviews will be conducted with some of these women to explore their response to the intervention. Interviews with health professionals will establish current practice for this patient group. The results will tell us how likely it is for athletes to volunteer and take part in a future study and which outcomes are useful.

Detailed description

Aims: The investigator's overall purpose is to conduct an RCT to determine whether one to one physiotherapy can improve the symptoms of urinary incontinence (UI) in a group of athletic women. This feasibility study will enable us to ascertain the viability of conducting a definitive appropriately powered trial. Research protocol: The research design is a mixed methods study with three distinct but related phases. Phase 1: 6-8 local health care professionals (GPs, nurses and physiotherapists) will be recruited for interview to explore current management practices of urinary incontinence (UI) in primary care. Phase 2: 15-20 sporting or athletic women who self- report symptoms of UI will be recruited from the local sporting community. Each will undergo individual subjective and objective assessments in order to establish history, symptoms and pelvic floor muscle function. The intervention will be then be tailored from these assessments and agreed between each individual and the specialist physiotherapist. It will include guided exercise within the clinic and a regular home exercise plan, in keeping with typical pelvic health regimes for pelvic floor muscle (PFM) dysfunction. Phase 3: 6-8 participants from phase 2 will be invited to take part in a qualitative interview in order to gain more in-depth understanding of UI. Purposeful selection will account for age, sporting activity and severity of symptoms. The interviews will be to explore the effects of UI on their quality of life, their participation in sport and exercise and the acceptability of the intervention. Measurable end points: 6 months from recruitment of the last participant in phase 2 will be considered to be the end point of the study.

Conditions

• Urinary Incontinence

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Phase 1: Qualitative interviews: Health care professionals	Semi-structured interviews of health care professionals to explore current management of urinary incontinence in the community
OTHER	Phase 2: Physiotherapy for urinary incontinence	Tailored physiotherapy assessment and management for athletic women who self-report urinary incontinence
OTHER	Phase 3: Qualitative Interviews: Participants	Semi-structured interviews of a purposeful selection of the participants from Phase 2 to explore reaction to the recruitment process and the intervention

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-08-27
• Primary completion: 2020-12-03
• Completion: 2020-12-03
• First posted: 2019-06-14
• Last updated: 2023-06-01

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom