title: Self-monitoring and pelvic floor muscle exercises to treat urinary incontinence.
abstract: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common chronic condition among women. Treatment of UI can involve behavioral techniques, pharmacological strategies, or surgical intervention. Clinically, treatment strategies should start with the simplest and least invasive measures. To overcome the deficiencies in previous research and provide definitive information for clinical practice, a randomized clinical trial is currently underway. This clinical trial uses a pretest-posttest design to first determine the effectiveness of self-monitoring techniques before subjects are randomized into one of two treatment groups or an attentional control group with a 1-year followup. The study design, sampling plan, and interventions used in an ongoing clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of self-monitoring and efficacy of biofeedback to treat UI in women are described. Innovative techniques to assess adherence to the pelvic muscle exercise protocol are addressed.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine Program on Aging, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
authors.forename: Jean E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kincade
authors.forename: Molly C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Dougherty
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Busby-Whitehead
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Nix
authors.forename: Dwan T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Kelsey
authors.forename: Fay C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Georgia S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Amy D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Rix
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology / Q000379:methods*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D009657:North Carolina; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017773:Pelvic Floor; D010808:Physical Examination; D012107:Research Design; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*