Article

In evaluating pelvic floor muscles, it is important to use reliable
and accurate methods. Therefore the objective of this study was to verify the
reliability of bidirectional and variable-opening equipment designed to measure
anteroposterior and left-right strength of pelvic floor muscles.
Test-retest to assess reliability. SETTING: Academic institution, primary level
of clinical care. Seventeen nulliparous women between 20 and 33
years of age participated in the procedure during 3 consecutive weeks. A
dynamometer was used to evaluate pelvic floor muscle strength. The reliability
was tested in 3 sessions, with a 7-day interval between, excluding premenstrual
and menstrual periods. On each day of data collection, 3 maximum voluntary
contractions of pelvic floor muscles were measured. The abdominal and gluteus
muscles were evaluated concomitantly to the assessment in an attempt to isolate
the pelvic floor muscle contractions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: To evaluate the
test-retest reliability with the intraclass correlation coefficient and the SEM.
RESULTS: Intraclass correlation of pelvic floor muscle force values ranged from
good to excellent. The SEM values for anteroposterior strength were 1.96 N and
1.86 N for left and right, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Test-retest values
demonstrated that the equipment we assessed to measure the anteroposterior and
left-right force generated reliable pelvic floor muscle strength measurements.
CI - Copyright A(c) 2011 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS