Pelvic floor muscle training no better than bladder training for overactive bladder: Study

For women with overactive bladder symptoms, supervised pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) does not provide additional improvement over bladder training, according to a study published online Sept. 18 in Neurourology Urodynamics.

Sílvia Monteiro, from the School of Medical Sciences of the State University of Campinas in Brazil, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled clinical trial to compare the effect of bladder training versus bladder training with PFMT in 63 women with symptoms of overactive bladder (31 and 32 women, respectively). For 12 consecutive weeks, women received home bladder training. The bladder training + PFMT group also performed supervised PFMT once per week and received instructions for performing home exercises.

The researchers found that the groups had no significant difference in terms of urinary symptoms, including daytime frequency, nocturia, urinary urgency, or the International Consultation on Incontinence overactive bladder total score.

"Such findings seem to be relevant for public health programs, considering that bladder training strategies can be used as a low‐cost treatment for overactive bladder," the authors write. "For future studies, we recommend that a cost‐effectiveness analysis be incorporated."