Objective To investigate associations of eating behaviour with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders (PFD), i.e., stress urinary incontinence (SUI), urge urinary incontinence (UUI), faecal incontinence (FI), constipation or defecation difficulties (CDD), and feeling of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among middle-aged women. Design A cross-sectional, observational study. Setting University Research Laboratory. Sample A population sample of 1 098 Finnish women aged 47 to 55 years. Methods Eating behaviour, demographical, gynaecological, and physical activity variables were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Simple and multiple logistic regression models were used to assess the associations of eating behaviour and symptoms of PFD. Models were adjusted with demographical, gynaecological, and physical activity variables. Main outcome measures Prevalence of symptoms of CDD, FI, POP, SUI, UUI. Results After controlling for confounding, middle-aged women with restrictive eating style were more likely to experience the symptoms of CDD (OR 1.73, CI 1.03–2.90, p=0.039). Women with evening-oriented eating pattern were more likely to experience symptoms of UUI (OR 2.01, CI 1.32–3.07, p=0.001) while maintaining healthy eating patterns was associated with lower risk of UUI (OR 0.45, CI 0.24–0.85, p=0.014) in adjusted models. Conclusions This study provides proof-of-concept evidence to the hypothesis that eating behaviour is associated with perceived pelvic floor disorders, particularly CDD and UUI, warranting further studies to investigate causality.

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