Pelvic Floor Muscle Training vs. Pilates Exercises for Urinary Incontinence

What this trial studies

Urinary incontinence (UI) affects approximately 40% of postmenopausal women and is therefore considered a public health problem. Conservative treatment is recommended, and pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) is considered the gold standard for this condition. However, other exercise options have been studied, such as Pilates exercises, which focus on stabilizing muscles and require voluntary contraction of the pelvic floor muscles. The literature remains inconclusive regarding the effects of Pilates exercises on urinary incontinence and pelvic floor muscle function.

Conditions in scope

• Urinary Incontinence , Stress

Interventions

• PFMT (Other) — O PFMT consistirá em 10 contrações voluntárias máximas que devem ser mantidas por pelo menos 6 segundos. Os participantes serão incentivados a sustentar a contração máxima por um tempo maior a cada semana. O intervalo entre as contrações será de…
• Pilates exercises (Other) — The Pilates group will perform 10 solo exercises, containing stretching and strengthening for the main muscle groups, with a single series of 10 repetitions.

Who can join

Women only · Ages 50 Years to 70 Years

Inclusion criteria

• Being naturally post-menopause (at least one year without menstruating);
• Demonstrate independence to carry out activities of daily living;
• Have a report of urinary loss when performing physical exertion.

Exclusion criteria

• Women who have had hysterectomy or oophorectomy surgery;
• Women who underwent cancer treatment with hormone therapy;
• Present cognitive deficits or neurological diseases;
• Practice any type of physical activity regularly in the last six months; Present inability to hire PFM (Oxford Scale \< 1);
• Report pain or discomfort in the vulva or vagina;
• Present dyspareunia, vaginismus or pelvic organ prolapse greater than grade II in the Baden-Walker classification;
• Present symptoms of urinary infection at the time of evaluation;
• Have participated in previous pelvic floor reeducation programs.

Eligibility wording paraphrased from the public record. View the full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov before contacting a site.

Where it’s happening

Status & timeline

• Overall status: Recruiting
• Study type: Interventional
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: 2025-09-29
• Primary completion: 2025-10-01
• Last update posted: 2025-10-08
• First posted: 2025-10-08

Sponsor & contact

Lead sponsor: Universidade Estadual do Norte do Parana (Other)

For trial site contact information, use the official record at ClinicalTrials.gov. Contact details change frequently and the public record is the source of truth.

Outcome measures

Primary outcomes

• Voiding diary (12 weeks)
  Identifies the frequency of urinary leakage. The participant will record, over the course of 7 days, at home, the number of episodes of urinary leakage during some effort, such as coughing, sneezing or jumping. If there are more than 3 urinary losses within a 7-day interval, the test is positive for UI.
• International Consultation of Urinary questionnaire Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI-SF) (12 weeks)
  Specific quality of life questionnaire for each aspect related to UI. It consists of four questions; the sum of the first three questions gives the score, and the fourth describes the type of UI. The maximum total score is 21, and the higher the score, the worse the UI severity and disorder.
• PERFECT test (12 weeks)
  As a complement to the manometric evaluation, bidigital palpation will be performed. The PFM strength and resistance level will be classified using the modified Oxford scale, where 0 is the absence of muscle strength and 5 means a strong contraction with movement correct "squeeze" and "suction". Participants will attempt maximum contractions in terms of strength and endurance three times, with…
• FSFI Questionnaire (Female Sexual Function Index) (12 weeks)
  To assess women's sexual function, the domains: desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain are used. It has 19 items. Each question presents a possibility of response with a pattern from 0 to 5, where at the end you can have the result of the scores of each domain and also of the total score, where values below or equal…

Related ClearedRx care

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