Effect of Combined Exercise on Urinary Incontinence in Postmenopausal Women

The risk factors of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) are obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and pelvic floor dysfunction in postmenopausal women. Combined exercise with aerobic and resistance training included core exercise would be effective intervention for the SUI. PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of combined exercise program (CEP) on SUI in postmenopausal women. METHODS: This study was conducted with stratified random sampling, random assignment and a pre-post test design. Forty-two postmenopausal women with SUI (58.95 ± 4.16 years old) were divided into an exercise group (EG) and control group (CG) and categorized for metabolic syndrome (MEG, N=7; MCG, N=7), obesity (OEG, N=7; OCG, N=7), and normal (NEG, N=7; NCG, N=7) conditions, respectively. The CEP consisted of 12 weeks aerobic (40-75 % of Heart Rate Reserve and 11-13 based on Rate of Received Exertion, 50-70 minutes, 3 times/week) and resistance training to strengthen the core muscles for total body training. Control groups maintained their normal daily lifestyle. Vaginal contraction, HOMA-IR, estradiol (E2), and body composition were assessed. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine differences between each condition. RESULTS: Duration of vaginal contraction (F=15.410, p=.002) and HOMA-IR (F=5.729, p=.034) in the MEG were significantly improved compared with MCG. Peak pressure of vaginal contraction (F=14.706, p=.002), average pressure of vaginal contraction (F=20.839, p=.001), and % fat (F=134.440, p=.000) in the OEG were significantly improved compared with OCG. CONCLUSION: The CEP has efficacy for SUI prevention and alleviation by increasing pelvic floor muscle contraction, specifically for postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome and obesity, as improving insulin resistance and body fat.