Postmenopausal women's adherence to pelvic floor muscle exercises over 2 years

This study aimed to investigate women's adherence patterns to pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME), their associated factors and within-pattern changes.

This was a secondary analysis using data collected from 647 women aged 55 years and older in the USA. Women were randomly assigned to either a 2-h class group or an equivalent content 20-min DVD group to receive PFME complemented with adherence enhancement strategies. Adherence was assessed at 3, 12 and 24 months using three self-reported items matching PFME parameters. The k-mean clustering and multinomial logistic regression were used to investigate adherence patterns and their associated factors, respectively. Descriptive statistics were used for within-pattern changes over time.

Four adherence patterns, A, B, C and D, were identified. Women who displayed optimal adherence to all three aforementioned items, i.e. adherence pattern A, constituted 49.1%, 38.2% and 37.2% of women at 3, 12 and 24 months, respectively. Women with income > US$100,000 were more likely to display adherence pattern A within 12 months. Of women who had adherence pattern A at 3 months, 63.9% and 49.2% continued in this pattern at 12 and 24 months.

Fewer than half of women displayed adherence pattern A for 2 years. Early optimal adherence predicted women's subsequent optimal adherence.