31 August 2005
Life Without Limits Week - Continence Awareness
4 ~ 10 September
Latest research - a ground-breaking study - shows that up to 84% of women with stress urinary incontinence can be dry
with continence physiotherapy.
This multi-centre, national physiotherapy study has shown cure rates equal to surgery for women with for stress urinary
incontinence.
The results of the research, published this year in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology, showed that continence physiotherapy in Australia was an effective and risk-free treatment which should be
recommended as first-line approach for women with stress urinary incontinence, before consideration of surgery.
Women with stress urinary incontinence typically leak urine when coughing, sneezing or during physical activities. This
can have an emotional impact on women and their relationships. It can also result in avoidance of physical activity and
this can have serious health consequences.
Stress urinary incontinence has been traditionally treated surgically but increasingly evidence suggested that
non-surgical treatments, in particular physiotherapy, were a good option. This new study found that not only were the
outcomes very good - 64% of women who started out in the project were dry at the end of treatment - but, very
importantly, there were significant improvements in the quality of life for the women participating. Another important
finding was that none of the women reported adverse effects from physiotherapy.
A year later, all of those who had finished treatment were followed up: 78% of those who responded to the questionnaire
were still satisfied or very satisfied with the outcome and 85% did not want any further treatment.
Further results of this study, about to be published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, showed
that continence physiotherapy was not only effective, but it was also a low cost option (around $300 for a course of
treatment – free in NZ) when compared with surgery which was estimated at over $6,000.
This multi-centre study is the most comprehensive investigation of physiotherapy for stress urinary incontinence
undertaken in Australia. It involved 39 physiotherapists with special training in continence management, across
Australia and investigated the outcomes of 274 women with stress incontinence. Results for NZ would be very similar.
The project also informed researchers about many aspects of clinical practice - costs, typical number of treatments and
the types of treatment used. Treatment typically involved an individualised pelvic floor muscle training program but
some women needed further help to train the pelvic floor muscles with biofeedback or electrical stimulation. Every woman
was checked to ensure that she was contracting her pelvic floor muscles correctly because incorrect muscle action can
potentially be harmful. An average of five treatment sessions was needed for a successful outcome.
The NZ Continence Association's CEO, Jan Zander, hails the ground-breaking study. "It highlights that there are now many
options for treatment, improvement and cure for incontinence. There's no better time for women to talk to a continence
health professional about their weak bladder or bowel.
"Bladder or bowel problem? Don't let it hold you back!"
ENDS