Women With Self-Reported Stress Urinary Incontinence Had Differences in Clinical Measures Depending on Whether Jumping Jacks Provoked Leakage

Background: Pelvic floor muscle (PFM) and hip impairments have been inconsistently reported in women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) across studies. Subclassifying women with SUI based on a task that provokes leakage may identify more distinct groups. Objectives: To subclassify women with SUI who did and did not leak during jumping jacks (JJ) and to compare PFM and hip function among the SUI-leak and SUI-no leak groups and women without SUI (non-SUI). Study Design: A cross-sectional, exploratory study. Methods: Forty-one women completed 60 seconds of JJ and self-reported whether leakage occurred. Demographic data, PFM function, passive hip range of motion (ROM), and hip strength (manual muscle testing [MMT] and handheld dynamometry [HHD]) were compared among groups and limbs. Results: Nineteen women with SUI were subclassified based on self-reported leakage while JJ (SUI-leak, n = 9; SUI-no leak, n = 10) and 22 non-SUI. Age, parity, PFM power, vertical lift, hip internal (IR) and external rotation (ER) strength, and hip IR ROM differed among groups (P ≤ .040). SUI-leak group's PFM power did not differ between limbs (P = 1.00), whereas the other 2 groups' dominant limb (D-limb) was greater than nondominant limb (ND-limb) (P ≤ .002). SUI-leak group's hip ER HHD strength was greater in D-limb than in ND-limb (P = .02), whereas the SUI-no leak group's ER strength did not differ between limbs (P = .065). Conclusion: Both SUI groups were not able to lift during a PFM contraction; however, women with SUI who did not leak during JJ appear to use a unique interlimb strategy, and had less hip IR ROM, and stronger hip ER than those in the SUI-leak group.