Investigation of the effects of pelvic floor training on pain, sexual dysfunction, and quality of life in female patients with sjogren

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine the effects of pelvic floor exercises on pain, sexual dysfunction and quality of life in female patients with Sjögren's. Method: 46 female pSS patients with an average age of 47.78±9.18 were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups by block randomization method. Group 1 received 30 minutes of pelvic floor training program every day as a home exercise for 8 weeks. Group 2 received education about life style changes. Pelvic Pain Impact Questionnaire (PPIQ), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and was used to evaluate degree of pelvic pain, Female Sexual Function Scale (FSFI) was used to evaluate the sexual dysfunction, Pelvic Floor Disability Index-20 (PFDI-20) was used to evaluate the degree of certain discomfort caused by pelvic symptoms in women , Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ-7) was used to evaluate the effect of bladder, bowel, and pelvic symptoms on the individual's activities of daily living, social relationships, and emotions, Health Assessment Questionnare (HAQ) was used to evaluate the quality of life. All evaluations were performed at baseline and at the end of the 8th week. Results: When the groups were compared before training, there was no significant difference (p>0.05). In post-training comparisons, there was a significant difference in FSFI, VAS, PPIQ, PFIQ-7, PFDI-20 in intervention group (p:0.02-0.00); in FSFI-lubrication, PFIQ-7 and PFDI-20 (p:0.00-0.03) in control group. In addition, after post-training, intervention group was found to be superior in terms of FSFI total (Z:-3.40, p:0.01), FSFI-orgasm (Z:-3.13, p:0.02), FSFI-satisfaction (Z:-2.27, p:0.02), FSFI-pain (Z:-2.42, p:0.01), PFDI-20 (Z:-3.42, p:0.00), POPDI-6 (Z:-3.00, p:0.00), CRADI-8 (Z:-2.18, p:0.02), UDI-6 (Z:-3.64, p:0.00) compared with control group. Conclusion: As a result of our study, pelvic floor training has a positive effect on sexual dysfunction and discomfort caused by pelvic symptoms in patients with pSS. Pelvic floor training should be included in rehabilitation programs as a home exercise to improve sexual function and pelvic floor dysfunctions for patients with pSS.