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Updated: Jun 30, 2025
Anogenital Distance and Perineal Measurements of the Pelvic Organ Prolapse POP Quantification System
Published on: September 20, 2018
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Attendance Among High-Risk Postpartum Patients
Coralee Toal1, Noa Goodman2, Rachel Durst2
1From the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital.
Importance:
Limited data describe attendance to pelvic floor physical therapy (PFPT) in a postpartum patient population.
Objectives:
The objective was describe attendance to PFPT in a cohort of postpartum women at high-risk of pelvic floor concerns. We secondarily compared attendance between patients with and without evaluation in a postpartum pelvic floor healing clinic (PPFHC).
Study Design:
This was a retrospective cohort study of 2 convenience samples from an academic hospital. The PPFHC cohort comprised all postpartum vaginal delivery patients evaluated in the PPFHC from July 2021 to July 2022. The historical pre-PPFHC cohort comprised patients with third/fourth-degree obstetrical lacerations from December 2019 to January 2021. We abstracted attendance to PFPT, number of visits, Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 (PFDI-20) scores, Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ) scores, and discharge status.
Results:
Our cohort contained 464 patients, 195 (42.0%) from pre-PPFHC and 269 (58.0%) from PPFHC. Among all patients 302 (65.1%) were referred to PFPT and 170 (56.3%) attended at least 1 visit, 82 (48.2%) were discharged from PFPT with goals met, and the median number of visits was 6 (3-10). The majority of patients (97.0%, n = 261) seen in the PPFHC were referred to PFPT, compared with 22.0% (n = 41) of pre-PPFHC patients (P < 0.01). More patients in the pre-PPFHC cohort attended PFPT than in those the PPFHC cohort (75.6% vs 53.5%, P ≤ 0.01). Most patients exhibited improved PFDI and PFIQ scores after PFPT (n = 88, 80.0%, and n = 89, 81.7% respectively).
Conclusions:
Patients attending postpartum PFPT demonstrated high therapy completion rates. A dedicated PPFHC had more referrals, however, lower PFPT attendance rates, when compared with a historical cohort.
