Pelvic floor exercises versus Pilates on urinary incontinence in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Abstract
Introduction
Urinary incontinence (UI), characterised by the involuntary discharge of urine, is an escalating health issue, especially common among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with prevalence rates ranging from 34.9% to 49.6%. This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) versus Pilates exercises in enhancing UI, cough symptoms and quality of life (QoL) in individuals with COPD.
Material and methods
Sixty patients aged 50 years and above with COPD-related UI were randomly allocated to two intervention groups: Group A (n = 30) underwent PFMT, whereas Group B (n = 30) engaged in Pilates. Both therapies were conducted triweekly for 12 weeks. The outcome measurements comprised the 1-hour and 24-hour pad tests, incontinence severity index (ISI), cough symptom score (CSS) and the incontinence quality of life questionnaire (I-QOL).
Results
Both groups exhibited substantial enhancements following the intervention (p < 0.001). Group B exhibited more significant decreases in urine leakage – 80.16% in the 1-hour pad test and 66.51% in the 24-hour test – relative to Group A. Group B demonstrated greater reductions in ISI (63.23%) and CSS (74.06%), as well as significant enhancements in cough-related symptoms (296.57%) and I-QOL scores (65.65%).
Conclusions
Twelve weeks of either PFMT or Pilates significantly enhanced UI and QoL in patients with COPD. Nonetheless, Pilates demonstrated more advantages, suggesting its superior therapeutic efficacy in addressing UI and associated symptoms in this demographic.
© 2026 Rana Ayman Abd El-Fatah Ali et al., published by Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.