Relação entre a prática de atividade física, o Índice de Massa Corporal e a distensibilidade perineal de gestantes

Abstract

Introduction: During pregnancy or pelvic floor undergoes physiological changes for accommodation and preparation for vaginal delivery, being a perineal distensibility an important factor. Despite the importance of perineal distensibility to vaginal delivery, little is known about this variable in pregnant women. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between perineal distensibility, physical activity and body mass index (BMI) in primiparous pregnant women in the third trimester. Materials and Methods: Pregnant women underwent an anamnesis on urogynecological, obstetric history and their lifestyle habits, on the practice of physical activity during pregnancy and its frequency. Subsequently, for the evaluation of perineal distensibility, the Epi-No® equipment was used, gradually inflated by the evaluator to the maximum tolerance of the volunteer three times and at the end the pregnant woman was instructed to expel the EPI-NO®. With the aid of a millimeter tape measure, the examiner measured the balloon at its greatest circumference. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics 17.0 software, verified by the Shapiro-Wilk test, and Pearson's correlation test was applied. Results: The 155 pregnant women were aged 28.8 ± 4.7, body mass index 27.1 ± 4.0, gestational weeks 33.5 ± 0.5, distensibility 19.2 ± 2.2. 61% of physically active women and 60% of non-active women had perineal distensibility value higher than 20.8cm. There was no correlation between participants' BMI and perineal distensibility values (p = 0.816; r = -0.019). Conclusion: There was no relationship between physical activity, BMI and perineal distensibility.