Efeitos do uso de aplicativo móvel no treinamento do assoalho pélvico em mulheres com queixa de incontinência urinária de esforço: estudo clínico randomizado controlado

Abstract

Urinary incontinence (UI) is any involuntary loss of urine and causes negative impacts on women's lives. Pelvic floor muscle training (PMT) has level A of scientific evidence for the treatment of UI. Despite its effectiveness, poor patient compliance often undermines its long- term benefits, generating the need for alternatives to motivate and improve the adherence of their patients. Considering that health care has been innovated through mobile device applications, this study aims to verify the effects of TMAP using a mobile device application in incontinent women. This is a randomized controlled clinical trial that took place remotely. The participants of this study are 104 women with symptoms of stress and/or mixed urinary incontinence, aged over 18 years, literate, with preserved cognitive capacity, with internet access, who had a mobile device with Android system. They were randomly divided into two groups: App group performed a TMAP protocol guided using an Android application; the Car group, using a booklet. Before and after 12 weeks of intervention, the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire - Short Form (ICIQ-SF) were used to assess the participants. Both groups obtained improvements in the final ICIQ-SF score for frequency, amount, and interference of UI in the lives of incontinent women, but superior results for the booklet group (p<0,05). As in the KHQ, the participants who performed pelvic floor muscle training guided by a booklet obtained superior results regarding the reduction of the social limitations domain (p=0.032). Grupo App showed lower adherence to training but greater satisfaction when compared to Grupo Car. It is concluded that TMAP with the use of a cell phone application is capable of reducing urinary loss and the impact of UI in incontinent women, but it is not superior to training with the use of guidelines by booklets.