The Effects of Expiratory Muscle Strength Training in Women With Stress Urinary Incontinence

According to the International Continence Society definition, stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is the involuntary leakage of urine during physical exertion, including exertion or sports activities, or during sneezing or coughing. Pelvic floor muscle training, a conservative approach, is recommended as the first-line treatment for SUI. As a classic approach, there is A-level evidence that isolated pelvic floor muscle training in women improves SUI and SUI-related quality of life. While inspiratory muscle training has been reported in the literature as effective in SUI, research on expiratory muscle strength training is needed. Therefore, studying expiratory muscle strength in SUI is important. Inclusion criteria for the study were: having SUI, being female, and being aged 18-65 years. Exclusion criteria were: The following criteria were contraindicated: presence of neurological disease, neurogenic bladder findings, pregnancy, presence of malignancy, history of abdominopelvic surgery or radiotherapy within the last 6 months, diagnosis of urinary tract infection, presence of uncontrolled hypertension, presence of advanced pelvic organ prolapse (stage 3 and above), and pelvic floor muscle squeezing strength <2 on the Modified Oxford Scale during digital examination. Women will be randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups: Group 1: Pelvic Floor Muscle Training (PFMT) and Group 2: PFMT plus Expiratory Muscle Strength Training. The groups will be blinded. The intervention program will last 8 weeks in both groups. Women will be evaluated at the beginning of the study (before interventions) and at the end of the 8th week of intervention. Both groups will be asked to perform the exercises included in the PFMT program as a home program after being taught in the clinic, and individuals will be called for follow-up check-ups every two weeks with an exercise schedule. At each follow-up session, one set of exercises will be performed with the physiotherapist to re-check the accuracy of the exercises, and the number of exercises will be increased before the women are invited to the next appointment.

Respiratory muscle strength will be measured using a portable, electronic mouth pressure monitor. Pelvic floor muscle strength will be graded using the Modified Oxford Scale (MOS). Objective incontinence severity will be assessed with a 1-hour pad test. The subjective severity of incontinence and its impact on daily life will be assessed with the International Incontinence Consultation Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF). At the end of treatment, women's perceptions of improvement in their urinary incontinence levels will be assessed using the "Patient Global Improvement Perception Scale". A device will be used in training to increase expiratory muscle strength. Expiratory muscle strength training will be done at home 7 days a week, once a day, with a cycle of 25 breaths, and a 1-minute rest after every 5 breaths. Women will be taught rapid-maximal isolated contractions and high-repetition submaximal isolated contractions via vaginal palpation as part of the PTKE program.