Physical activity in women planning sacrocolpopexy

This study describes preoperative physical activity in 314 stress-continent women with prolapse planning sacrocolpopexy. Seventy-six percent reported that they engaged in mild, 60% in moderate, and 26% in strenuous exercise (counts are not mutually exclusive). Activity frequencies did not generally differ by prolapse stage. Prolapse substantially interfered with exercise or recreation in 27% of women, household work or yard work in 19%, and work outside the home in 8%. Compared to women with less symptom distress, more women with greater symptom distress reported that prolapse interfered with household/yard work (43 vs 5%, p<0.0001), working outside the home (29 vs 8%, p<0.005), and recreation/exercise (51 vs 10%, p<0.0001). Prolapse stage was not associated with interference with household/yard work (p=0.28) or work outside home (p=0.89). Although prolapse stage is associated with interference with recreation (p=0.02), this association is not consistently positive : stage II, 42%; stage III, 22%; and stage IV, 32%.