Does group physiotherapy improve pain scores and reduce the impact of pelvic pain for women referred with persistent pelvic pain? A clinical trial

Introduction: This study aimed to test group Physiotherapy sessions – pain education and supervised exercise − in addition to individual consultations, for women referred with persistent pelvic pain (with/without endometriosis), with the primary outcomes being pain scores and pain impact. Methods: Parallel study design with three treatment arms: (1) usual care: a suite of individual Physiotherapy consultations; (2) introductory group pain education session followed by usual care and (3) introductory group pain education session followed by usual care and an 8-week supervised group exercise programme. Results: Ninety women were recruited (30/treatment arm), with 66 women (73%) completing their allocated treatment. Participants were aged between 16 and 51 years; endometriosis was confirmed in 41% (n = 27/66) of the study population. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistically significant gains (p < 0.05) in pain scores and pelvic pain impact scores were observed in all arms. Between groups, there was statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05) in pelvic pain impact score for those who attended the group pain education session followed by usual care (arm 2), compared to usual care (arm 1) alone. There was no significant added improvement with the weekly supervised group exercise programme (arm 3), when compared to those who received the group pain education programme and usual care (arm 2). Conclusion: This study has demonstrated positive benefits of a group pain education session on pain scores and pelvic pain impact for women referred with persistent pelvic pain, when added as a precursor to individual Physiotherapy consultations.