Effectiveness of group aerobic and/or resistance exercise programs associated with pelvic floor muscle training during prenatal care for the prevention and treatment of urinary incontinence: a systematic review

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of aerobic and/or resistance group exercise programs associated with pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) during prenatal care for the prevention and treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) using the best level of evidence. Methods: A search was carried out in the MEDLINE/PubMed, LILACS, PEDro, CENTRAL, and SCOPUS databases, without restrictions. The terms “urinary incontinence” and “pregnant woman” were used. Randomized and quasi-randomized clinical trials were included using aerobic and/or resistance exercise programs plus PFMT as an intervention compared to usual care. The Cochrane tool (RoB 2.0) and GRADE were used to assess risk of bias and certainty of evidence, respectively. Quantitative analysis was assessed by meta-analyses.

Results: Five publications were included. There was a reduction in the reports of UI postintervention at 16 weeks (RR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.74−0.93, one study, 762 women, random effects: p = 0.002) and after 3 months (RR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.60−0.95, one study, 722 women, random effects: p = 0.02), based on moderate certainty of evidence and improvement in UI-specific quality of life (MD: −2.42; 95% CI: −3.32 to −1.52, one study, 151 women, random effects: p < 0.00001), based on low quality of evidence. Other results showed no difference between the postintervention groups, with low and very low evidence.

Conclusion: There is moderate evidence that the aerobic and/or resistance exercise program associated with PFMT compared to usual care can reduce postintervention UI, as well as 3 months postintervention, and that it can improve UI-specific quality of life, but with low-evidence certainty.