Nonsurgical Outpatient Therapies for the Management of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence: Long-Term Effectiveness and Durability

Table 1

Summary of conservative therapy trials.

Study	𝑁	Age, y	Treatment	Study design	Study duration	Efficacy measures	Efficacy outcomes
Alewijnse et al. 2003 [32]	129	Mean, 55.6	PFMT alone (control; 𝑛=32); PFMT + reminders (𝑛=29); PFMT + reminder + patient education guide (𝑛=34); PFMT + reminder + patient education guide + counseling (𝑛=34)	Randomized, controlled, open label	12 mos	Self-administered questionnaires; diaries	Overall 75% cured or improved at 12 mos; Overall reduction in number of SUI episodes in all groups from mean 23/wk to 8/wk; 𝑃<.001; Efficacy between all treatment groups, 𝑃=NS
Aukee et al. 2004 [33]	35	Mean, 49.4, 51.4; Range, 31–69	PFMT alone (control; 𝑛=19); PFMT+ biofeedback, with at-home EMG training device (𝑛=16)	Randomized, controlled, open label	12 mos	EMG-evaluated pelvic floor muscle activity; need for surgical intervention after conservative treatment; patient assessment using leakage index (based on 13 types of physical exertion that may trigger SUI episodes)	Nonoperated EMG results: PFMT, 𝑃=.02; PFMT+ biofeedback, 𝑃=.005; Treatment failure (surgery), 𝑛=14; Only nonoperated biofeedback group achieved significant reduction in leakage index, 𝑃=.005
Janssen et al. 2001 [34]	530	Mean, 47.8	PFMT, group sessions (𝑛=404); PFMT, individual sessions (𝑛=126)	Randomized, open label	12	Written questionnaires; diaries; patient exercise forms	Reduction in number of SUI episodes versus baseline: Group, 𝑃<.001; Individual, 𝑃<.001; Group versus individual, 𝑃=NS

Abbreviations: EMG, electromyography; NS, not significant; PFMT, pelvic floor muscle training; SUI, stress urinary incontinence.