[Assessing knowledge of pelvic floor disorder and pelvic floor muscle training among young women].

Abstract

Introduction: Although pelvic floor disorders affect millions of women worldwide, healthcare seeking is low. Adequate knowledge regarding pelvic floor disorders could lead to increased healthcare-seeking behavior, which may help to reduce the economic burden of these disorders. Objective: The present study aims to evaluate knowledge about pelvic floor disorders and pelvic floor muscle training and to assess healthcare seeking behavior among young women. Method: 221 young women (mean age: 20.65 ± 1.67 years) were included in the present cross-sectional study. The Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire was used to assess knowledge about pelvic floor disorders. The International Consultation of Incontinence Questionnaire – Short Form was used to assess the severity of urinary incontinence. To explore the source of knowledge about pelvic floor muscle training, we used the relevant questions from the Pelvic Floor Muscle Training – Patient-Reported Outcome Measures questionnaire. All statistical analyses were performed with IBM SPSS version 28.0. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Urinary incontinence had been experienced by 15.89% of participants (n = 34). Among them, only 4 young women (11.76%) sought healthcare. The mean score of the International Consultation of Incontinence Questionnaire – Short Form was 3.94 ± 4.47. Urinary incontinence knowledge was deemed proficient in 23.53% of participants (n = 52), while pelvic organ prolapse knowledge was deemed proficient in 32.13% of participants (n = 71). Only 19% of participants (n = 42) had performed pelvic floor muscle training, and less than half of them (47.61%, n = 20) were confident that they practiced it correctly. 16.66% of them (n = 7) had received verbal instruction on pelvic floor muscle training from a professional, and 4.76% (n = 2) indicated that a specialist had checked the correct implementation of the pelvic floor muscle training. Conclusion: Young women had limited knowledge about pelvic floor disorders. Healthcare seeking for urinary incontinence was low. Additionally, the number of women who had practiced pelvic floor muscle training was low. Orv Hetil. 2025; 166(34): 1333–1339.