Avaliação do assoalho pélvico e de variáveis de treino em corredoras continentes e incontinentes: estudo transversal

Abstract

Introduction: The Urinary incontinence is an involuntary loss of urine. It’s a common condition in athletes, especially those who play high impact sports. Knowing what distinguish incontinent athletes from other athletes can be important for treatment planning and preventive actions. Objective: to compare the strength of the pelvic floor muscles and the training variables of continent and incontinent runners. Method: Cross-sectional study. One hundred continent (n = 50) and incontinent (n = 50) runners answered the questionnaire about personal data and training variables and had the strength of the pelvic floor muscles assessed by vaginal palpation (Oxford scale) and manometry (Peritron). The inclusion criteria were women over 18 who had been running for at least twelve months and had a training volume of more than fifteen kilometers per week, with a body mass index between 18 kg / m² and 25 kg / m² and at least 12 months postpartum. Those who presented urinary tract infection at the time of the evaluation, injuries incompatible with running training during the evaluations, chronic degenerative disease, difficulties in maintaining / inserting the vaginal tube and intolerance to vaginal palpation were excluded. Results: The groups were similar in relation to age (p = 0.176) and body mass index (p = 0.18). Regarding training characteristics, incontinent women have been running for longer (52 months x 42 months, p <0.01), practiced greater distance weekly (30.6 x 20.7 km / week, p = 0.01) and had lower strength of MAP (3.5 x 2.1 Oxford, p <0.01). Conclusion: The incontinent runners had a greater distance covered weekly, they had run for a longer time, practiced another exercise besides running and had less strength from the MAP.