Journal of Yoga & Physical Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Teaching Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises to Women in a Primary Care Setting: Participants’ Adherence and Acceptance

Cinara Sacomori, Fernando Luiz Cardoso and Fabiana Flores Sperandio

Background: To investigate the acceptance and adherence to an intervention that included teaching Pelvic Floor (PF) muscle exercises to women who underwent the routine examination for cervical cancer prevention. Methods: This prospective study occurred in a primary care setting. Thirty-eight women who received a functional assessment of the PF musculature and behavioural guidance were interviewed by telephone two months later. The intervention consisted of one single section of teaching adequate contraction and PF exercises. Questionnaires were employed that addressed urinary losses, level of physical activity, sexual function (Female Sexual Function Index - FSFI) and open questions for adherence and acceptance. Pelvic floor muscle were evaluated immediately after the routine examination for cervical cancer prevention with vaginal palpation and ranked with Ortiz scale. Descriptive statistics and the Mann Whitney U test were used for p < 05. Results: Twenty-four women (63.1%) adhered to the recommended exercises. The reports of the participants demonstrated that they accepted the intervention and showed a positive impact on diverse aspects: knowledge, sex life, encouragement to practice physical exercise and PF exercises, and improvement in urinary loss symptoms. The FSFI mean score was 21.87 (sd = 8.74; median = 23.1). Aspects such as age, schooling, and level of physical activity, body mass index, sexual function, and urinary loss symptoms did not affect adherence. Conclusion: Preventive actions such as the one described here constitute a way of facilitating access to healthcare among the population with the lowest financial means. This suggests that such interventions should be encouraged in primary health care settings.