Hull and East Yorkshire University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Kingston Upon Hull, UK.
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Kingston Upon Hull, UK.
J Obstet Gynaecol. 2022 Aug;42(6):2282-2286. doi: 10.1080/01443615.2022.2040966. Epub 2022 Mar 15.
Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) is proven to protect against pelvic-floor weakness in the form of urinary incontinence (UI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines advise supervised PFMT as first-line treatment of stress or mixed UI and POP. Healthcare professionals play a crucial role in educating patients. Our aim is to study the extent of awareness of PFMT amongst healthcare professionals by a single-centre cross-sectional study of voluntarily participating 44 healthcare professionals. The term 'pelvic floor exercise' had varied explanations; 53% staff thought they knew how to undertake pelvic-floor assessment, although there was no standard method or terminology to describe the technique or outcome. Staff were unaware of PERFECTR method, Modified Oxford Grading, slow and fast contractions which form the basic criteria of standardised pelvic floor assessment and training. Only 43% staff were aware of online resources.Impact Statement There have been many studies confirming the effectiveness of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) in the prevention and treatment of long-term morbidities like urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and sexual dysfunction. However, there have been no studies in the published literature about staff awareness of this important evidence based health intervention in women's health services. We believe the awareness among health care staff about PFMT is still limited. Our study is the first of its kind in literature to highlight that staff awareness about this health intervention is still poor which in turn means staff are not well equipped to offer the support and guidance the patients need. The lack of awareness of staff needs addressing on an urgent basis. Knowledge of PFMT is essential for health care staff to provide appropriate patient education and support. We recommend including information of PFMT and assessment methods in local and national guidelines to help increase awareness of staff and patients alike and help achieve better global pelvic health.
盆腔底肌肉训练（PFMT）已被证实可预防尿失禁（UI）和盆腔器官脱垂（POP）等盆腔底弱点。英国国家卫生与保健卓越研究所（NICE）指南建议将监督下的 PFMT 作为压力性或混合性 UI 和 POP 的一线治疗方法。医疗保健专业人员在教育患者方面发挥着至关重要的作用。我们的目的是通过对 44 名自愿参与的医疗保健专业人员进行单中心横断面研究，来研究医疗保健专业人员对 PFMT 的认知程度。“盆腔底运动”这个术语有各种不同的解释；53%的员工认为他们知道如何进行盆腔底评估，尽管没有标准的方法或术语来描述该技术或结果。员工不知道 PERFECTR 方法、改良牛津分级、缓慢和快速收缩，这些都是标准化盆腔底评估和训练的基本标准。只有 43%的员工知道在线资源。
有许多研究证实了盆腔底肌肉训练（PFMT）在预防和治疗长期病态方面的有效性，如尿失禁、盆腔器官脱垂和性功能障碍。然而，在已发表的文献中，没有关于女性健康服务中员工对这种重要循证健康干预措施的认知的研究。我们认为，医疗保健人员对 PFMT 的认识仍然有限。我们的研究是文献中首次强调，员工对这种健康干预措施的认识仍然很差，这意味着员工没有很好地装备来为患者提供所需的支持和指导。员工意识的缺乏需要紧急解决。医疗保健人员了解 PFMT 对于为患者提供适当的教育和支持至关重要。我们建议在地方和国家指南中纳入 PFMT 和评估方法的信息，以帮助提高员工和患者的认识，并帮助实现更好的全球盆腔健康。
