Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength and the Postural Balance in Middle-Aged Women: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Aim

To investigate if pelvic floor muscles’ (PFMs’) strength is associated with postural balance in middle-aged women.

Methods

The participants were 22 middle-aged women (age: 57 ± 6 years). They completed a clinical and urogynecological evaluation, PFMs’ strength testing using a perineometer, and balance testing on a force platform. The balance variables analyzed were anteroposterior (AP) and side-to-side (SS) center of pressure (COP) displacement; 95% elliptical COP area (cm²), AP and SS COP displacement median frequency.

Results

PFMs’ strength was moderately correlated with SS COP displacement and with AP COP median frequency in semi-tandem. Age and educational level affected the relationship between PFMs’ strength and balance.

Conclusion

PFMs’ strength had the strongest associations with SS COP displacement in eyes-open semi-tandem and AP COP median frequency in eyes-closed semi-tandem. Thus, these results allow us to conclude that there may be some relationship between pelvic floor muscle strength and postural balance in middle-aged women.

Keywords:

• Pelvic floor
• balance
• middle-aged
• women

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and the National Council of Scientific Research (CNPq) Brazil for the financial support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval was obtained from the local Human Research Ethics Committee (protocol number: 1.325.903) and the protocol was written in accordance with the standards set by Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported in part by São Paulo Research Foundation, grant number 2019/09328-5 and the National Council of Scientific Research (CNPq) Brazil.