Quantitative assessment of pelvic floor muscle extensibility in pregnant women with a perineal elasticity meter.

The objective of this study was to compare measurements of pelvic floor muscle extensibility in pregnant women obtained through the Epi-no and perineal elasticity meter (PEM) devices. This was an observational, cross-sectional study with a consecutive sample, conducted in a prenatal care outpatient clinic. The pelvic floors of 62 healthy pregnant women with gestational ages between 35 and 40 weeks were assessed. Perineal extensibility was measured using the Epi-no and PEM devices. Through the linear regression method, a formula was created to calculate the Epi-no values from the PEM values. To determine the degree of relationship between both variables, Pearson's correlation coefficient was used. In the comparison of the results for 62 pregnant women using the two perineal extensibility assessment methods, the value obtained in the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis (0.621) indicated a moderate relationship between the variables. This finding was not confirmed by the Kappa correlation test. When the measurements were classified into three groups, a slight correlation was identified (perineum with restrictions, moderate extensibility, and good extensibility). There was a relationship between Epi-no and PEM from slight to moderate agreement.