The objective of this study was to compare the residual effect of a 3-month rehabilitation treatment and a standard drug treatment
for urge urinary incontinence (UUI) 21 months post intervention. Forty-four women (ages 27–68 years) who were diagnosed with
overactive bladder (OAB) were divided into 2 treatment groups over 3 months: 24 women received rehabilitation (REH) and 20
women were treated with medication (MED) (oxybutynin ER). Outcomes measures included frequency of urination, quality of life
(QoL), and number of side effects (no/SE), which were measured upon entry into the study (entry), completion of the intervention
(3 months), and at follow-up 3 and 21 months after completion of treatment. In the follow-up period, there was a significant
group–time interaction effect on freq/day and freq/night (
p < 0.01). At the end of follow-up, the mean number of no/SE was significantly greater in the MED group compared to the REH
group (3.3 ± 0.5 vs 2.4 ± 0.4;
p < 0.05). A significant negative association was found between the urinary symptoms and the I-QoL at the 21-month follow-up
(
r
p = −0.45 to−0.57,
p < 0.05). In the long-term, the REH patients maintained and even improved the achievements of the intervention period while
the MED patients deteriorated to baseline values in urinary frequency. The suggestion for future work is to investigate the
effect of each REH treatment component on UUI symptoms.
Keywords Pelvic floor rehabilitation - Urge urinary incontinence - Medication treatment - Long-term - Physiotherapy - Quality of life