Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Pelvic floor disorders among amateur runners

  • Urogynecology
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Sports and physical activity are known risk factors for pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD). The aim of this study is to examine the impact of amateur running on PFD, quality of life (QoL), and sexual function.

Methods

Amateur runners were contacted through social media. Their PFD, sexual function, and QoL were evaluated by self-reporting validated questionnaires (PFDI-20, PISQ-12, IIQ-7). They were divided by degree of effort into two categories, 'High effort' and 'Moderate effort'. The differences between the two groups were examined by a Mann–Whitney U Test, T-Test, and Chi-square test.

Results

180 women were included. A high incidence of PFD was found among 'High effort' runners in comparison to 'Moderate effort' runners. In addition, women who scored above the median in the PFDI-20 showed significantly greater impairment in QoL and sexual function. Interestingly, the 'High effort' group reported experiencing higher intensity orgasms compared with women in the 'Moderate effort' group. A correlation was also found between the weekly running distance and the intensity of orgasm experienced (P value = 0.004).

Conclusion

'High effort' runners present a higher incidence of PFD in comparison to 'Moderate effort' runners. Professional pelvic floor muscle training counselling should be considered even for amateur runners. Future interventional physical therapy studies should be carried out in order to investigate preventative strategies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Jürgensen SP, Borghi-Silva A, Bastos AMFG, Correia GN, Pereira-Baldon VS, Cabiddu R, Catai AM, Driusso P (2017) Relationship between aerobic capacity and pelvic floor muscles function: a cross-sectional study. Braz J Med Biol Res. https://doi.org/10.1590/1414-431x20175996

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Bø K, Engh ME, Hilde G (2018) Regular exercisers have stronger pelvic floor muscles than nonregular exercisers at midpregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 218(4):427-e1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Da Silva Borin LCM, Nunes FR, de Oliveira Guirro EC (2013) Assessment of pelvic floor muscle pressure in female athletes. Pm&r 5(3):189–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bø KARI, Borgen JS (2001) Prevalence of stress and urge urinary incontinence in elite athletes and controls. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33(11):1797–1802

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Nygaard IE, Shaw JM (2016) Physical activity and the pelvic floor. Am J Obstet Gynecol 214(2):164–171

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Vitton V, Baumstarck-Barrau K, Brardjanian S, Caballe I, Bouvier M, Grimaud JC (2011) Impact of high-level sport practice on anal incontinence in a healthy young female population. J Womens Health 20(5):757–763

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Nygaard IE, Shaw JM, Bardsley T, Egger MJ (2014) Lifetime physical activity and pelvic organ prolapse in middle-aged women. Am J Obstet Gynecol 210(5):477-e1

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Scheerder J, Breedveld K, Borgers J (eds) (2015) Running across Europe: the rise and size of one of the largest sport markets. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  9. Leitner M, Moser H, Eichelberger P, Kuhn A, Radlinger L (2017) Evaluation of pelvic floor muscle activity during running in continent and incontinent women: an exploratory study. Neurourol Urodyn 36(6):1570–1576

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Carvalhais A, Da Roza T, Vilela S, Jorge RN, Bø K (2018) Association between physical activity level and pelvic floor muscle variables in women. Int J Sports Med 39(13):995–1000

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Barber MD, Kuchibhatla MN, Pieper CF, Bump RC (2001) Psychometric evaluation of 2 comprehensive condition-specific quality of life instruments for women with pelvic floor disorders. Am J Obstet Gynecol 185(6):1388–1395

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Rogers RG, Coates KW, Kammerer-Doak D, Khalsa S, Qualls C (2003) A short form of the pelvic organ prolapse/urinary incontinence sexual questionnaire (PISQ-12). Int Urogynecol J 14(3):164–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Reuven Y, Yohay Z, Glinter H, Yohai D, Weintraub AY (2017) Validation of the Hebrew version of the short form of the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6). Int Urogynecol J 28(12):1891–1894

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Alves JO, Da Luz ST, Brandao S, Da Luz CM, Jorge RN, Da Roza T (2017) Urinary incontinence in physically active young women: prevalence and related factors. Int J Sports Med 38(12):937–941

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Middlekauff ML, Egger MJ, Nygaard IE, Shaw JM (2016) The impact of acute and chronic strenuous exercise on pelvic floor muscle strength and support in nulliparous healthy women. Am J Obstet Gynecol 215(3):316-e1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Bø K, Nygaard IE (2020) Is Physical activity good or bad for the female pelvic floor? A narrative review. Sports Med 50:471–484

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Nygaard IE, Thompson FL, Svengalis SL, Albright JP (1994) Urinary incontinence in elite nulliparous athletes. Obstet Gynecol 84(2):183–187

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Carvalhais A, Jorge RN, Bø K (2018) Performing high-level sport is strongly associated with urinary incontinence in elite athletes: a comparative study of 372 elite female athletes and 372 controls. Br J Sports Med 52(24):1586–1590

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. De Araujo MP, Parmigiano TR, Negra LGD, Torelli L, Carvalho CGD, Wo L, Manito ACA, Girão MJBC, Sartori MGF (2015) Evaluation of athletes’ pelvic floor: is there a relation with urinary incontinence? Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte 21(6):442–446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. De Mattos Lourenco TR, Matsuoka PK, Baracat EC, Haddad JM (2018) Urinary incontinence in female athletes: a systematic review. Int Urogynecol J 29:1757–1763

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Teixeira RV, Colla C, Sbruzzi G, Mallmann A, Paiva LL (2018) Prevalence of urinary incontinence in female athletes: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Int Urogynecol J 29:1717–1725

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Minassian VA, Drutz HP, Al-Badr A (2003) Urinary incontinence as a worldwide problem. Int J Gynecol Obstet 82(3):327–338

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Araújo MP, Oliveira ED, Zucchi EV, Trevisani VF, Girão MJ, Sartori MG (2008) The relationship between urinary incontinence and eating disorders in female long-distance runners. Rev Assoc Med Bras 54(2):146–149

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Kruger JA, Dietz HP, Murphy BA (2007) Pelvic floor function in elite nulliparous athletes. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 30(1):81–85

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Macmillan AK, Merrie AE, Marshall RJ, Parry BR (2004) The prevalence of fecal incontinence in community-dwelling adults: a systematic review of the literature. Dis Colon Rectum 47(9):1341–1349

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Visscher AP, Lam TJ, Hart N, Felt-Bersma RJF (2014) Fecal incontinence, sexual complaints, and anorectal function after third-degree obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI): 5-year follow-up. Int Urogynecol J 25(5):607–613

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Weintraub AY, Glinter H, Marcus-Braun N (2020) Narrative review of the epidemiology, diagnosis and pathophysiology of pelvic organ prolapse. Int Braz J Urol 46(1):5–14

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Ali-Ross NS, Smith ARB, Hosker G (2009) The effect of physical activity on pelvic organ prolapse. BJOG Int J Obstet Gynaecol 116(6):824–828

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Bø K, Hagen R, Kvarstein B, Larsen S (1989) Female stress urinary incontinence and participation in different sport and social activities. Scand J Sports Sci 11(3):117–21

    Google Scholar 

  30. Pires TF, Pires PM, Moreira MH, Gabriel RECD, João PV, Viana SA, Viana RA (2020) Pelvic floor muscle training in female athletes: a randomized controlled pilot study. Int J Sports Med 41(04):264–270

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, PO Box 151, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Shanny Sade, Lauren Waichenberg & Adi Y. Weintraub

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Affiliated with the Hebrew University Medical School of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Reut Rotem

  3. Recanati School for Community Health Professions, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel

    Inbar Naor & Dana Zilberman Kravits

Authors
  1. Shanny Sade
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Inbar Naor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Reut Rotem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lauren Waichenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dana Zilberman Kravits
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Adi Y. Weintraub
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

SS: Manuscript writing, Manuscript editing; IN: Project development, Data collection; RR: Data analysis; LW: Manuscript editing; DZK: Project development; AYW: Project development, Manuscript editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shanny Sade.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sade, S., Naor, I., Rotem, R. et al. Pelvic floor disorders among amateur runners. Arch Gynecol Obstet 309, 2223–2228 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-023-07351-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-023-07351-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation