The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a 6-week program of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) plus connective tissue massage (CTM) to PFMT alone in women with overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms on those symptoms, pelvic floor muscle strength, and quality of life. Thirty-four participants were randomly divided into PFMT+CTM (n = 17) and PFMT (n = 17) groups. PFMT was applied every day and CTM was applied 3 days a week for 6 weeks. Before treatment, at week 3, and after treatment (week 6), we assessed pelvic floor muscle strength (with a perineometer), bladder symptoms (with a urine diary), OAB symptom severity (with the 8-item Overactive Bladder Questionnaire (OAB-V8)), urgency (with the Patient Perception of Intensity of Urgency Scale (PPIUS)), and quality of life (with King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ)). The Mann-Whitney U test, Chi2 test, Friedman test, and Dunn multiple comparison test were used for analysis. In both groups, pelvic floor muscle strength increased, whereas OAB symptoms and PPIUS and KHQ scores decreased after treatment (p < 0.05). Although the OAB-V8, PPIUS, and KHQ scores decreased at week 3, frequency, OAB-V8, and PPIUS scores, in addition to some parameters of the KHQ, decreased after treatment in the PFMT+CTM group compared to the PFMT group (p < 0.05). Compared to PFMT alone, PFMT+CTM achieved superior outcomes in reducing OAB symptoms in the early and late periods.
Reprinted from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics with copyright permission from the National University of Health Sciences.

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