Prevalence and Risk Factors for Pelvic Floor Disorders

Overview

Pelvic floor disorders (PFD) can adversely affect the quality of life of a woman and they can occur during different stages of female life such as during pregnancy, early postpartum period or during menopause. It is well known that pregnancy and vaginal birth are significant risk factors in the etiology of PFD and predicting models like UR-CHOICE score were developed for this reason to provide mothers-to-be with sufficient information regarding their subsequent risk of PFD. Pregnancy, childbirth and the immediate postpartum period, where the demands on the pelvic floor and the incidence of pelvic floor trauma are particularly high, offers an optimal opportunity for such counseling and prevention.

Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) can adversely affect the quality of life (QoL) of a woman and they can occur during different stages of female life such as during pregnancy, early postpartum period or during menopause. The reported prevalence of PFDs varies widely both during and after pregnancy and reported up to 30-50%. Besides, the term PFD includes a broad spectrum of conditions such as urinary incontinence (UI), pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or anal incontinence (AI). Many risk factors seem to be involved like the pregnancy itself, mode of delivery, parity, the use of episiotomy, obesity, increased age and so on. It is well known that pregnancy and vaginal birth are significant risk factors in the etiology of PFDs and predicting models like UR-CHOICE score were developed for this reason to provide mothers-to-be with sufficient information regarding their subsequent risk of PFD. The identification of women during their pregnancy who are at higher risk for PFD remains a key element in targeting of prevention and planning health of resource allocation strategies. Pregnancy, childbirth and the immediate postpartum period, where the demands on the pelvic floor and the incidence of pelvic floor trauma are particularly high, offers an optimal opportunity for such counseling and prevention. The validated German pelvic floor questionnaire modified for pregnancy and postpartum period is thus an important tool identifying such symptoms and helping clinicians assess patient's quality of life. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of PFDs in a cohort of Egyptian women during pregnancy. Furthermore, we searched for clinical risk factors that correlate with the occurrence of PFDs during pregnancy in the investigator's population.