Associations of early and middle adulthood physical activity with
symptoms of pelvic floor disorders in middle-aged women: an
observational study with retrospective physical activity assessment
Abstract
Objective To investigate associations of early and
middle adulthood physical activity (PA) with symptoms of pelvic floor
disorders (PFD), i.e. stress urinary incontinence (SUI), urge urinary
incontinence (UUI), fecal incontinence (FI), constipation or defecation
difficulties (CDD), and feeling of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among
middle-aged women.
Design A cross-sectional,
observational study with retrospective physical activity assessment.
Setting University Research Laboratory.
Sample A random population sample of 1098
47-to-55-year-old Finnish women.
Methods PA history,
current PA, and demographical and gynaecological variables were assessed
using self-report questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were
applied to study associations of past and current PA with PFDs.
Associations of demographical and gynaecological variables with PFDs
were studied and their potential confounding effect was controlled in
multiple logistic regression models.
Main outcome
measures Structured questionnaire-assessed retrospective
physical activity history at the age of 17–29, current physical
activity at middle age, and prevalence of SUI, UUI, FI, CDD and POP.
Results Current PA was not independently associated
with the occurrence of the PFDs. Middle-aged women with early adulthood
history of competitive sports were more likely to experience UUI (OR
2.161, 95% CI 1.102–4.237, p=0.025) but not SUI, FI or POP, while
women with history of regular PA were more likely to experience FI (OR
4.405, 95% CI 1.049–18.493, p=0.043) but not other PFDs.
Conclusions Competitive sports during early adulthood
may increase the risk of UUI at middle age. The history of regular PA
may increase the risk of FI. Keywords Pelvic floor
function, exercise, menopausal women