Behavioral program effective in stress incontinence

By April Clarkson, | Health | 0 Comments

A study shows how useful behavioral therapy is in relieving female urinary stress incontinence.
Many women suffer the misery of stress incontinence, when the muscles of the pelvic floor become weakened - often after childbirth. Urine escapes if they cough, sneeze or even laugh. A method called pelvic floor electrical stimulation (PFES) has been used for many years to tone the relevant muscles. Researchers in Birmingham Alabama report on how a behavioral program compares with PFES.

A group of 200 women with urinary stress incontinence was assigned to either behavioral training, with or without PFES, or to self-help. The behavioral training consisted of biofeedback and bladder control strategies. Those on behavioral training alone had a 68.6 per cent reduction in frequency of incontinence episodes, while addition of PFES increased this to just 71.9 per cent. Self-help led to a 52.6 per cent reduction in incontinence. The study suggests that behavioral training is a very effective way of treating stress incontinence and the PFES does not dramatically improve the outcome.