Reeducation of pelvic floor muscles in volleyball athletes

• Main Authors: Silvia Ferreira, Margarida Ferreira, Alice Carvalhais, Paula Clara Santos, Paula Rocha, Gabriela Brochado
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Médica Brasileira 2014-10-01
• Series: Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira
• Subjects: atletas desportivas; incontinência urinária de esforço; fisioterapia
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-42302014000500428&lng=en&tlng=en

Objective: to verify the effectiveness of the pelvic floor muscles rehabilitation program (PFMRP) in female volleyball athletes, analyzing the amount and frequency of urinary leakage. Methods: experimental study. The sample consisted of 32 female athletes from Famalicão Athletic Volleyball Club (Portugal). The athletes were selected by convenience and distributed randomly into two groups: experimental group (EG = 16 athletes) and the control group (CG = 16 athletes). The EG underwent PFMRP for three months. The PFMRP was the awareness and identification of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM), pre-timed PFM contraction prior to occasions of increased intra-abdominal pressure, and 30 daily contractions of MPP at home. The CG had only access to the pamphlet. The assessment instruments included the questionnaires, the Pad Test (amount of urinary leakage) and frequency record of urinary leakage (7-day diary) before and after PFMRP. Results: the amount of urine leakage decreased in 45.5% of athletes under PFMRP intervention, and in 4.9% of athletes in CG, with statistical differences between the groups (p < 0.001). The reduction in the frequency of urinary leakage was 14.3% in EG, and 0.05% in CG, a statistically significant difference between the groups (p < 0.001). Conclusion: PFMRP in this study was effective to reduce stress urinary incontinence in female volleyball athletes. The program allowed significant improvement of symptoms of quantity and frequency of urinary leakage.