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Updated: Aug 13, 2026
Anogenital Distance and Perineal Measurements of the Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) Quantification System
Published on: September 20, 2018
Association Between Bladder Descent Angle and Urinary Incontinence Subtypes During the Perinatal Period: A
Ryoko Minami1, Hirochika Ryuno2, Akihiro Kawauchi3
1Graduate School of Nursing, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta Tsukinowa-cho, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan.
Objective:
This study examined the longitudinal association between bladder descent angle (BDA), measured by transperineal ultrasound (TPUS), and urinary incontinence (UI) subtypes during the perinatal period, focusing on stress urinary incontinence (SUI).
Methods:
Women with singleton pregnancies at ≥36 weeks were recruited between June 2022 and June 2025. Of 100 participants, 87 completed follow-up and were analyzed. UI was assessed using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF), and participants were classified into UI and non-UI groups. BDA was measured using TPUS and compared between groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed.
Results:
UI prevalence was 67.0% in late pregnancy and 23.0% postpartum, with SUI as the most common subtype. BDA was higher in the UI group than in the non-UI group in late pregnancy (107.7° vs. 103.8°, P = 0.034) and postpartum (112.8° vs. 105.3°, P = 0.021). BDA showed a trend toward association with SUI, being higher in the SUI group in late pregnancy (P = 0.044), although significance was not maintained after correction for multiple comparisons. Similar trends were observed postpartum. The predictive ability of late pregnancy BDA for postpartum UI was limited (AUC = 0.552).
Conclusions:
BDA measured by TPUS was associated with perinatal UI and showed a subtype-specific tendency toward SUI-related symptoms. However, its predictive value for postpartum UI and SUI was limited. BDA may reflect structural vulnerability of the pelvic floor rather than serving as an independent predictive marker.
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