Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Physical Therapy for Gynecology and Obstetrics

Background: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common medical condition among postmenopausal women as it affects more than 50% of women after menopause. SUI is well-known to profoundly affect the quality of life. Aerobic exercise causes reflexive contraction of the PFMs which leads to improvement in muscle activity and coordination. Objectives: The study aimed to determine the effect of aerobic exercise on stress urinary incontinence and quality of life in postmenopausal women with SUI. Methods: Thirty female patients diagnosed as postmenopausal stress urinary incontinence, aged between 50-60 years old. They were randomly allocated to two equal groups in number, Group (A) performed pelvic floor muscle training only, two sessions per week for 3 consecutive months while Group (B) performed pelvic floor muscle training in addition to aerobic exercise two sessions per week for 3 consecutive months. Assessment of all patients was carried out before and after the treatment program through Myomed -biofeedback to assess the pelvic floor muscle strength and the Revised Urinary Incontinence Scale (RUIS) to assess the severity of SUI symptoms as well as SF -36 to assess the quality of life. Results: After the intervention, there was a significant increase in pelvic floor muscle strength, decrease in SUI symptoms and improvement in the quality of life in both groups with more significant improvement in group B. Conclusions: Aerobic exercise is effective in increasing pelvic floor muscle strength, decrease severity of stress urinary incontinence and improving quality of life in post-menopausal women with stress urinary incontinence

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