Adherence and self-efficacy of pregnant women to perform pelvic floor muscle training through a health education application: a feasibility study.

Abstract

Background: Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) is a treatment that can be used during pregnancy. The main aim of this study was to evaluate adherence to PFMT and self-efficacy using a mobile application (app) named GoMAP. The secondary objective was to evaluate the correlation between self-efficacy and adherence of participants who used the GoMAP app.

Methods: This is a feasibility study. The participants were pregnant women who underwent an 8-week PFMT protocol, provided through a previously validated GoMAP app. To assess self-efficacy, the Self-Efficacy Scale for practicing Pelvic Floor Exercises was applied four times-every two weeks after starting the PFMT program on the GoMAP app. Adherence was evaluated daily by a frequency questionnaire that was completed as the participant performed the exercise program. The data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation and percentage, and the Pearson correlation test was performed between quantitative variables. A 5% significance level was adopted.

Results: Eighteen pregnant women completed the 8-week exercise protocol. The mean Self-Efficacy Scale after eight weeks of PFMT was 75.8±14.8 and the average adherence of pregnant women to the protocol was 30.4±14.0 days. The adherence and self-efficacy variables showed a strong correlation after eight weeks of PFMT (r=0.79, P<0.001).

Conclusions: Women who used the GoMAP app demonstrated good adherence and self-confidence when performing the PFMT exercises. The app could be an important therapeutic resource when conducting a PFMT program for pregnant women.