Functional mobility and lumbopelvic rhythm in women with and without stress urinary incontinence: An observational...

To examine the functional mobility and lumbopelvic rhythm of the continent and incontinent women.

An observational pilot study was performed with two groups of women, who never experienced falls.

Participants were 27 women with urinary incontinence and 27 matched controls. The incontinent group had urinary incontinence assessed by the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form (ICIQ-SF) (score ≥1); and the continent group had an ICIQ-SF score equal to 0. The functional mobility and lumbopelvic rhythm were assessed using G-Sensor® gadget wireless system. With the G-sensor® at the second lumbar vertebra, the participants performed the Walk-Test (functional mobility), Time Up and Go (TUG) (functional mobility), and lumbopelvic rhythm. Student T test, Chi-Square, and Mann-Whitney test were applied to compare continuous variables between groups. p < 0.05 for significance level. Hegdes'g statistic and R² [Z²/(total n)] were used to effect size.

Walk-test was not different between groups. TUG was different between groups: the continent group (11.0 ± 2.1s) was faster than the incontinent group (12.5 ± 3.3s) (p = 0.03). The sitting-to-standing position knee flexion angle was larger in the continent group (45.0 ± 17.2°) than in the incontinent (34.1 ± 18.8°) (p = 0.03).

The incontinent group showed a decrease in functional mobility according to the TUG test. Limiar differences in the flexion angle from sitting to standing suggest incontinent women might have a lower potential for hip flexor moment during hip lifting.