Associations of early and middle adulthood physical activity with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders in middle-aged women: an observational study with retrospective physical activity assessment

Objective To investigate associations of early and middle adulthood physical activity (PA) with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders (PFD), i.e. stress urinary incontinence (SUI), urge urinary incontinence (UUI), fecal incontinence (FI), constipation or defecation difficulties (CDD), and feeling of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among middle-aged women. Design A cross-sectional, observational study with retrospective physical activity assessment. Setting University Research Laboratory. Sample A random population sample of 1098 47-to-55-year-old Finnish women. Methods PA history, current PA, and demographical and gynaecological variables were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were applied to study associations of past and current PA with PFDs. Associations of demographical and gynaecological variables with PFDs were studied and their potential confounding effect was controlled in multiple logistic regression models. Main outcome measures Structured questionnaire-assessed retrospective physical activity history at the age of 17–29, current physical activity at middle age, and prevalence of SUI, UUI, FI, CDD and POP. Results Current PA was not independently associated with the occurrence of the PFDs. Middle-aged women with early adulthood history of competitive sports were more likely to experience UUI (OR 2.161, 95% CI 1.102–4.237, p=0.025) but not SUI, FI or POP, while women with history of regular PA were more likely to experience FI (OR 4.405, 95% CI 1.049–18.493, p=0.043) but not other PFDs. Conclusions Competitive sports during early adulthood may increase the risk of UUI at middle age. The history of regular PA may increase the risk of FI. Keywords Pelvic floor function, exercise, menopausal women