Perineal muscle strength as a predictor of stress urinary incontinence among young parous women in Mangaluru India

Abstract Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common health problem faced by most parous women, particularly after vaginal deliveries, often due to pelvic floor muscle (PFM) damage. According to the International Continence Society (ICS), SUI refers to the complaint of any involuntary loss of urine on effort or physical exertion (e.g., sporting activities) or on sneezing or coughing. This cross-sectional pilot study aimed to assess the correlation between perineal muscle strength and the severity of stress urinary incontinence among young parous women aged between 25 and 40 years with a history of vaginal delivery. The 65 parous women who met the inclusion criteria, residing in selected rural areas, were included in the study. The demographic/obstetric proforma, cough stress test, and the modified Oxford perineal muscle grading scale were used as a tools to obtain data from participants residing in selected rural areas with limited resources. The study showed a strong and significant negative correlation (r = -0.76, p < 0.001) between Stress urinary incontinence and perineal muscle strength, indicating that stronger perineal muscles are associated with fewer or less severe stress urinary incontinence. Significant associations were also identified between stress urinary incontinence severity and selected obstetric variables such age, age at first delivery, number of vaginal deliveries at the p < 0.001 level, also history of perineal tear is significantly associated at the p < 0.05 level of significance. This pilot study demonstrated a strong negative correlation between perineal muscle strength and stress urinary incontinence among parous women. Simple tools such as the Modified Oxford scale and cough stress test may support early identification of women at risk, particularly in low-resource settings. Larger, multi-center studies are required to validate and generalize the results.