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. 2025 Feb;57(2):371-381.
doi: 10.1007/s11255-024-04230-2. Epub 2024 Oct 11.

Are pelvic floor muscle function, quadriceps femoris muscle, gluteus medius muscle, hand grip strength and functional performance affected by incontinence types in elderly people with urinary incontinence?

Melda Başer Seçer  1 , Özge Çeliker Tosun  2 , Gökhan Tosun  3
Affiliations

Are pelvic floor muscle function, quadriceps femoris muscle, gluteus medius muscle, hand grip strength and functional performance affected by incontinence types in elderly people with urinary incontinence?

Melda Başer Seçer et al. Int Urol Nephrol. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between incontinence type and pelvic floor muscle function, gluteus medius muscle, quadriceps femoris muscle, hand grip strength, functional performance and balance in elderly people with incontinence.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a nursing home with 78 elderly people with stress (SUI, n: 20), urgency (UUI, n: 27) and mixed (MUI, n: 31) urinary incontinence. "Urogenital Distress Inventory-6, Incontinence Impact Questionnaire Form-7, Overactive Bladder-8" were used to evaluate incontinence symptoms and severity. Superficial electromyography was used to evaluate the function of the PFM. A hand dynamometer was used to evaluate hand grip strength, and a digital manual muscle tester was used to evaluate quadriceps femoris (QF) and gluteus medius muscle strength. Short Physical Performance Battery and Time Up and Go Test were performed for functional performance.

Results: There was no significant difference between PFM contraction and relaxation functions, gluteus medius, QF muscle strength, functional performance (p > 0.05) but hand grip strength was highest in the group with UUI (ptotal: 0.022). The group with the highest rate of low hand grip strength is MUI (38.7%). A weak positive correlation was found between QF muscle strength and PFM Work Average value in the MUI group (r: 0.370, p: 0.048). In the MUI group, a moderate positive correlation was found between hand grip strength and gluteus medius muscle strength (r: 0.499, p: 0.005).

Conclusion: Our findings show that hand grip strength is related to the type of incontinence in the elderly people. The average hand grip strength was highest in the elderly people with UUI. Additionally, there was a positive relationship between gluteus medius and hang grip strength in MUI. It may provide guidance for evaluation and risk factors in elderly people with incontinence.

Keywords: Elderly people; Functional mobility; Hand grip strength; Incontinence types; Pelvic floor muscle.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval: This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of University Dokuz Eylül (2024/04/17). Patient consent statement: A voluntary consent form was obtained from each patient.

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