The effect of clinical pilates exercises on pain, quality of life and sexual function on women with pelvic organ prolapse

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of clinical pilates exercises on pain, quality of life and sexual function on women with pelvic organ prolapse. 38 women with stage I and stage II pelvic organ prolapse were included in the study. Individuals were divided into two groups as treatment (n=19) and control (n=19). The control group was only informed about the symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse and any practice was not done. Clinical pilates exercises were applied to the treatment group 3 days a week for 8 weeks, accompanied by a physiotherapist. Individuals were evaluated in terms of pain, quality of life and sexual function. Mcgill pain scale short form (MAI-SF) and Female genitourinary pain index (KAGI) were used to evaluate pain, Prolapse quality of life scale (P-QOL) was used to evaluate quality of life, and Female sexual function index (FSFI) was used to evaluate sexual function. Evaluations were applied to all individual twice, before and after the study. The end of the study, when the difference in the first and last evaluation of the treatment group was examined, it was observed that the pain decreased, the quality of life increased and sexual function improved (p<0,05). When the difference in the first and last measurements of the control group was examined , there was decrease in pain. When the two groups were compared, the treatment group had greater pain reduction, increase in quality of life, and improvement in sexual function compared to the control group (p<0,05). However, the results were similar in 2 sub-parameters of the quality of life scale and 3 sub-parameters of the sexual function index. As a result, clinical pilates exercises were found to decrease pain, increase quality of life and improve sexual functions on women with stage I and stage II diagnosed pelvic organ prolapse. For this reason, we believe that it would be beneficial to include clinical pilates exercises in the treatment program for women with stage I-II pelvic organ prolapse.