Is There an Association between the Quality of Life of Incontinence Symptoms and the Hip Joint Muscles Strength in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence?

For establishing an accurate target for rehabilitation of stress urinary incontinence (SUI), it is necessary to determine whether there is an association between the pelvic floor muscle (PFM) and hip joint muscle strength and quality of life (QoL) of incontinence symptoms. Purpose The purpose of the current study was to confirm the correlation between QoL of incontinence symptoms and PFM strength, hip extensor, abductor, and adductor strength in women with SUI. Methods Forty-two women with SUI were recruited for the present study. PFM performance was measured by perineometry. Hip extensor, abductor and adductor strength were measured by dynamometry. QoL of incontinence symptoms was measured by incontinence quality of life questionnaire (I-QOL). The significance of the correlations between I-QOL and hip joint muscle and PFM strength was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients. Alpha value was set at 0.05. Results Avoidance and limiting behaviors factor in I-QOL was correlated with PFM strength ( r =0.524, p <0.05), hip adductor strength ( r =0.356, p <0.05) and hip abductor strength ( r =0.352, p <0.05) in the order. The total score in I-QOL was correlated with PFM strength ( r =0.368, p <0.05). Conclusions When designing which muscles to train for improving QoL of incontinence symptoms, the hip joint muscle as well as the PFM could be considered.