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School of Health Sciences (HESAV), University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Western Switzerland (HES-SO), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
To assess the association of physical activity and urinary incontinence, or its recovery, during pregnancy and postpartum.
A search of publications indexed in five major electronic databases (CENTRAL, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and PEDro) was performed from their respective inception dates to the 30 March 2020 with a combination of keywords to identify studies of interest. Google Scholar was used for non-indexed literature. All studies comparing physical activity with standard care in pregnant and postpartum women were selected.
Two reviewers independently selected studies, assessed quality and extracted data. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using fixed effects or random effects models, for low and moderate heterogeneity between studies, respectively.
Seven studies (n = 12479) were included. Data of four studies could be pooled for meta-analyses; subgroup and sensitivity analyses were not possible. Physical activity, either during pregnancy or postpartum, is not associated with urinary incontinence, OR 0.90 (95% CI: 0.69–1.18) and OR 1.31 (95% CI: 0.74–2.34), respectively. Due to a lack of available data, urinary incontinence recovering could not be assessed.
The available low evidence does not show that physical activity during pregnancy or postpartum is associated with urinary incontinence. Moderate physical activity should therefore be encouraged for the evidence-based benefits on other obstetrical outcomes.
Milsom I, Altman D, Cartwright R, et al. Epidemiology of urinary incontinence and other lower urinary tract symptoms [LUTS], pelvic organ prolapse [POP] and anal incontinence [AI]. In: Abrams P, Wagg A, Wein A, editors. Incontinence. Tokyo: 6th international consultation on incontinence; 2017.
Editorial comment on: Boyle, et al. Pelvic floor muscle training for prevention and treatment of urinary and fecal incontinence in antenatal and postnatal women: a short version Cochrane review. Neurourol Urodyn 2014;33:269–276: Editorial Comment.
Milsom I, Altman D, Cartwright R, et al. Epidemiology of urinary incontinence and other lower urinary tract symptoms [LUTS], pelvic organ prolapse [POP] and anal incontinence [AI]. In: Abrams P, Wagg A, Wein A, editors. Incontinence. Tokyo: 6th international consultation on incontinence; 2017.
], physical activity is an important and modifiable health factor for all age groups. In adults aged between 18 and 64 years old, there is strong evidence that physical activity improves cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, and reduces the risk of depression. There is moderate evidence it increases bone density in adults [
Zhu L, Lang J, Wang H, Han S, Huang J. The prevalence of and potential risk factors for female urinary incontinence in Beijing, China: Menopause. 2008 May;15(3):566–9.
Previous systematic reviews have been carried out on physical activity and UI in pregnant and postpartum women, but included studies which often assessed interventions combining exercises for pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) and another physical activity [
Prenatal exercise (including but not limited to pelvic floor muscle training) and urinary incontinence during and following pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
]. Although antenatal PFMT seems to be effective in preventing urinary incontinence (low-quality evidence) in late pregnancy and (moderate-quality evidence) in the postnatal period. In a population of continent women, its effectiveness to treat urinary incontinence is uncertain. PFMT programs require the intervention of a physiotherapist for patient education and its cost effectiveness is unknown. Therefore, its use in an unselected population of pregnant women cannot be recommended [
]. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the association between UI, or its recovery postpartum, and physical activity without PFMT in this population.
Methods
The Cochrane criteria for systematic reviews were applied [
A systematic review of publications indexed in five major electronic databases was performed: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), CINAHL Complete in EBSCOhost and PEDro. In addition, Google Scholar was used for grey literature search and contact with study authors was established to identify additional studies. The databases were searched from their respective inception dates to the 30 March 2020. A complete description of the search strategy is provided in Appendix A. The lists of references in the identified publications were manually searched. Only studies in English and French without any temporal or regional restrictions were assessed.
Eligibility criteria
The inclusion criteria were defined as follow: 1) Types of study: Given the small number of studies evaluating the benefits of physical activity on the incidence of urinary incontinence during and after pregnancy, there were no restrictions on the eligible types of study design; 2) Types of participants: healthy pregnant or postpartum women (up to 6 months after birth in accordance with the WHO definition) [
] was considered. This includes some activities of daily living (i.e. walking, climbing stairs, cycling for transportation), occupational (i.e. work), household chores and any sports or leisure activities.
Main outcomes
1) Primary maternal outcomes measure: incidence of urinary incontinence during pregnancy and incidence of urinary incontinence in the postpartum period; 2) Secondary maternal outcomes measures: the recovery time of postpartum urinary incontinence symptoms [
]. According to the International Continence Society (ICS) we defined the urinary incontinence symptom as “the complaint of any involuntary loss of urine” and its subtypes: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI): “Complaint of involuntary loss of urine on effort or physical exertion including sporting activities, or on sneezing or coughing.” Urgency urinary incontinence (UUI): “Complaint of involuntary loss of urine associated with urgency.” Mixed urinary incontinence (MUI): “Complaints of both stress and urgency urinary incontinence” [
An International Urogynecological Association (IUGA)/International Continence Society (ICS) joint report on the terminology for female pelvic floor dysfunction.
Titles and abstracts of studies identified using the search strategy were screened independently by two reviewers (NvA and NVR) to identify those that met the inclusion criteria, then eligibility was verified reading the full text. Any disagreement over the eligibility of particular studies was resolved by a third reviewer (CS). All the publications meeting the criteria were selected for full text analysis. Two reviewers (NvA and NVR) independently extracted data and discrepancies were resolved through discussion with a third reviewer (CS). Data Management was performed using the data management tool Zotero.
Assessment of risk of bias
Two reviewers (NvA and NVR) independently assessed the overall quality and the risk of bias of the included studies. The studies’ quality was assessed with a tool adapted to the design of each study (the STROBE [
] checklist). The assessment of risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane instrument. Disagreements between the reviewers over the risk of bias in particular studies were resolved by discussion, with involvement of a third reviewer (CS) when necessary. Information on funding of the included studies was sought.
Assessment of the quality of evidence
The Grading of Recommendations Assessments, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach [
] was used to assess the level of quality of the evidence (Table 1). Two reviewers (NvA and NVR) working independently assessed the quality of the evidence and reached a consensus on any downgrading decisions.
Table 1Summary of findings.
Physical activity compared with no physical activity for urinary incontinence during pregnancy
Population: Pregnant women
Setting: Pregnancy
Exposition: Physical activity
Comparison: No physical activity
Outcome
Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI)
Relative effect (95% CI)
No of Participants (studies)
Quality of the evidence (GRADE)
Comments
Assumed risk
Corresponding risk
No physical activity
Physical activity
Urinary incontinence during pregnancy
535 per 1000
525 per 1000 (465 to 599)
RR 0.98 (0.87 to 1.12)
960 (3)
⊕⊕⊝⊝ low
–
Physical activity compared with no physical activity for urinary incontinence during postpartum period
Population: Postpartum women
Setting: Postpartum period
Exposition: Physical activity
Comparison: No physical activity
Outcome
Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI)
Relative effect (95% CI)
No of Participants (studies)
Quality of the evidence (GRADE)
Comments
Assumed risk
Corresponding risk
No physical activity
Physical activity
Postpartum urinary incontinence
433 per 1000
514 per 1000 (433 to 610)
RR 1.19 (1.00 to 1.41)
742 (2)
⊕⊕⊝⊝ low
–
*Assumed risk estimate and corresponding risk estimate (and its 95% confidence interval) are absolute risks and come from pooled estimated of both control groups and exposed groups.
CI: Confidence interval; RR: Risk Ratio
GRADE Working Group grades of evidence
High quality: Further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect.
Moderate quality: Further research is likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate.
Low quality: Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate.
Very low quality: We are very uncertain about the estimate.
Primary outcome and secondary outcomes were defined as dichotomous outcomes and summaries of intervention effects for each study were provided by calculating odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The clinical and methodological heterogeneity among included studies were assessed qualitatively. Statistical heterogeneity was assessed using I2 statistic. Meta-analyses were performed using a random effects analysis model. In case of low heterogeneity (I2 < 25%), we pooled the estimates of the effects with a fixed effects model. We report the overall effect as pooled odds ratios with their 95% confidence intervals and the statistical significance was determined with a Z score and its P value. In case it was not possible to include one study in a meta-analysis, a descriptive synthesis was done. Statistical analysis was performed using RevMan 5.
PROSPERO registration number
CRD42019107880
Results
General characteristics of the studies
The selection of studies was listed in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow chart (Fig. 1) [
]. A total of 2343 citations have been identified by the database searches. After screening titles and abstracts, seven relevant studies met inclusion criteria [
], with 12,479 participants. The details of the seven included studies and the 66 excluded studies are presented in Appendix (Tables A.1 and A.2 respectively). Among the excluded studies, three ongoing studies were identified (detailed in Table A.3 in Appendix). Among included studies, six were observational studies [
The physical activities, when specified, included walking, brisk walking, running, bicycling/spinning, training in fitness centers, strength training, weight training, gymnastics, jumping, swimming, aerobics (low and high impact), aerobic dance/step, prenatal aerobic classes, dancing, cross-country skiing/roller skiing, ball games, horseback riding, skating/rollerblades and other exercises [
], the intervention was transversus abdominis training in comparison with Pilates exercises. The frequency of exercise was 15 repetitions in one set for 3 months for transversus abdominis training and 5 days a week for 3 months for Pilates exercises.
UI was assessed using self-reported questionnaires of leakage and severity of UI, the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF) [
], UI was assessed using Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6) and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7).
Risk of bias of included studies
The summary of the risk of bias assessment is presented in Fig. 2, Fig. 3. Details and justifications for risk of bias assessments in individual studies are shown in Appendix (Table A.1). Overall, there is low quality evidence from the included, mainly observational, studies regarding the influence of physical activity on urinary incontinence in pregnancy or postpartum period.
Fig. 2Risk of bias graph. Review authors' judgements about each risk of bias item presented as percentages across all included studies.
The studies included in the meta-analyses of this systematic review have a low or unclear risk to the evaluation of ‘incomplete outcome data’ bias. Either there is no missing data regarding the chosen outcome or a control of missing data was done or the number of cases not reported is low. Therefore, no additional action was taken regarding the missing data for this review.
Synthesis of the results
Because of the lack of precision in most included studies regarding the exposure, a comprehensive meta-analysis including all studies was not possible. The association between physical activity and urinary incontinence in pregnant and postpartum women was based on the results from three [
Assessments of publication bias with funnel plots would not be relevant because of the low number (n < 10) of studies included in the meta-analyses. There was not enough data available to perform subgroup analyses for different exposures (types of physical activity) or outcome (types of UI) separately. The aggregation of different type of exposure or outcome was necessary to perform the meta-analyses. It was not possible to perform a sensitivity analysis because of the small number of studies included in the meta-analyses.
There was no statistically significant association between physical activity and urinary incontinence during pregnancy (OR 0.90 [95% CI: 0.69–1.18], p = 0.45), with no heterogeneity between the studies (I2 = 0%) (Fig. 4). There was ‘low’ quality evidence from three observational studies [
There was no statistically significant association between physical activity and urinary incontinence during the postpartum period (OR 1.31 [95% CI: 0.74–2.34, p = 0.35]), with moderate heterogeneity between the studies (I2 = 42%) (Fig. 5). There was ‘low’ quality evidence from two observational studies [
] (n = 742) regarding the association between physical activity and urinary incontinence during the postpartum period (Table 1). The impact of physical activity on the recovery time of urinary incontinence symptoms during the postpartum period was not evaluated in any of the included studies.
Fig. 5Association between physical activity and postpartum urinary incontinence.
]; the overall quality of studies included in the narrative synthesis was ‘low’ to ‘very low’.
Discussion
Main findings
The results of our systematic review do not show an association between physical activity and urinary incontinence in pregnant and postpartum women. The effect of physical activity on the recovery time of urinary incontinence symptoms during the postpartum cannot be assessed because of a lack of available data.
Overall completeness and applicability of evidence and comparison with existing literature
To our knowledge, there is no other review assessing the influence of physical activity alone (without pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT)) on urinary incontinence during pregnancy and postpartum. A recent review and meta-analysis studying prenatal exercise (including but not limited to PFMT) and UI during and following pregnancy concluded that prenatal PFMT alone or in combination with other forms of exercise is effective in reducing the occurrence and symptom severity of UI during pregnancy and the postpartum period [
]. Physical activity could therefore be considered a facilitator for evidence-based PFMT. Physical activity is also recommended to positively influence other important outcomes related to pregnancy (i.e. weight, gestational diabetes, hypertension, low back pain) [
Exercise interventions for weight management during pregnancy and up to 1 year postpartum among normal weight, overweight and obese women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
There is a knowledge gap about the impact of physical activity on urinary incontinence. Further research, assessing the impact of physical activity alone (without PFMT) during pregnancy and in the postpartum period as well as the optimal dose of physical activity is warranted. A feasible design would be a cohort study, which could provide data on UI and on the physical activity of women before and during their family planning as well as data on the practice of physical activity by pregnant and postpartum women.
Limitations of the review
This review has limitations. First, as this review mainly includes observational studies there is a high risk of confounding factors. Then, because of the small number of studies included, subgroup analyses for different exposures (types of physical activity) or outcomes (types of UI) were not possible. Moreover, there was heterogeneity between studies used for the meta-analysis regarding the impact of physical activity on UI postpartum, resulting from different study designs, different postpartum timing measurements, different participants (athletes or not) and different measuring tools.
In the field of UI, prevalence varies widely from study to study [
Milsom I, Altman D, Cartwright R, et al. Epidemiology of urinary incontinence and other lower urinary tract symptoms [LUTS], pelvic organ prolapse [POP] and anal incontinence [AI]. In: Abrams P, Wagg A, Wein A, editors. Incontinence. Tokyo: 6th international consultation on incontinence; 2017.
]. Consequently, the applicability of the evidence provided by this meta-analysis must be weighted according to the modalities and timing of data collection regarding the symptoms of urinary incontinence, the variability in the definition of UI, the potential selection bias, recall bias, and non-response bias.
According to the body of evidence identified, results of this meta-analysis have to be interpreted cautiously. The most critical aspects regarding the completeness and applicability of the evidence of this review are the wide definitions of ‘physical activity’, ‘postpartum’ and ‘urinary incontinence’ that were accepted in the inclusion criteria.
This review highlight the lack of data on the impact of physical activity alone on urinary incontinence during pregnancy and postpartum. Also, no data are available about its impact on urinary incontinence recovery during and after pregnancy.
Conclusion
With an overall low quality of evidence, this review was unable to provide any conclusions regarding the effects of physical activity alone on UI or the recovery in pregnant and postpartum women. Physical activity is, however, recommended for its benefits on other important outcomes related to pregnancy.
Author contributions
NVA wrote the review protocol, developed and ran searches, selected studies, extracted and interpreted data, assessed the overall quality and risk of bias of included studies, assessed the quality of evidence, performed the analyses, and wrote the review.
NVR selected studies and extracted data, assessed the overall quality and risk of bias of included studies and assessed the quality of evidence.
CS and DD contributed as advisory group to the protocol, the development of searches and data interpretation, DD wrote the revised version of the manuscript.
MB and JB contributed for the study concept and manuscript editing.
Funding
None to declare.
This article is based on the results of a Master Thesis conducted within the joint Master of Science (MSc) in Health Sciences of HES-SO (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), major in physiotherapy, at HES-SO Master.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
In memory of our too soon disappeared friend, Dr Nikolaus Veit-Rubin.
We thank all investigators who provided further information about existing studies.
We would be grateful if people who are aware of studies potentially relevant for this review could contact N. von Aarburg.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
The following are the Supplementary data to this article:
Milsom I, Altman D, Cartwright R, et al. Epidemiology of urinary incontinence and other lower urinary tract symptoms [LUTS], pelvic organ prolapse [POP] and anal incontinence [AI]. In: Abrams P, Wagg A, Wein A, editors. Incontinence. Tokyo: 6th international consultation on incontinence; 2017.
Editorial comment on: Boyle, et al. Pelvic floor muscle training for prevention and treatment of urinary and fecal incontinence in antenatal and postnatal women: a short version Cochrane review. Neurourol Urodyn 2014;33:269–276: Editorial Comment.
Zhu L, Lang J, Wang H, Han S, Huang J. The prevalence of and potential risk factors for female urinary incontinence in Beijing, China: Menopause. 2008 May;15(3):566–9.
Prenatal exercise (including but not limited to pelvic floor muscle training) and urinary incontinence during and following pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
An International Urogynecological Association (IUGA)/International Continence Society (ICS) joint report on the terminology for female pelvic floor dysfunction.
Exercise interventions for weight management during pregnancy and up to 1 year postpartum among normal weight, overweight and obese women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
☆This article is based on the results of a Master Thesis conducted within the joint Master of Science (MSc) in Health Sciences of HES-SO (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), major in physiotherapy, at HES-SO Master.
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