Nursing and Physiotherapy Department, University of the Balearic Islands, Crta de Valldemossa, Km 7.5, 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Sci Rep. 2024 May 14;14(1):11052. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-61464-x.
Pelvic floor dysfunctions (PFD) are highly prevalent among females who do athletics, a sport requiring jumping, strength, and running. Although educational approaches are useful options, the educational need for this particular population remains unknown. The objective of the present study was to describe the level of knowledge regarding PFD and its relationship with symptomatology and gender stereotypes in female athletes in Spain. A total of 255 female athletes completed an anonymous online survey to explore their knowledge regarding urinary incontinence (UI), pelvic organ prolapse (POP), anal incontinence (AI), and sexual dysfunction (SexD), as well as their PFD symptoms and gender stereotyped beliefs related to sport. Educational level and sports characteristics (training volume, experience, and athletic modality) were also explored. Participants demonstrated a low level of knowledge in terms of POP (52.5%), AI (64.0%), and SexD (40%), but not for UI (70.8%). The proportion of PFD complaints was 63.5% for dyspareunia, 51.8% for urine leakage, 42.4% for pelvic pain, 17.3% for AI, and 9.0% for POP, with no associations with knowledge (p > 0.05). Lower knowledge about UI and SexD was related to greater gender stereotypes (p < 0.05) and rejection of professional healthcare (p = 0.010). As a conclusion, the level of knowledge about PFD was low in female athletes who train and compete in athletics in Spain, mainly with regard to sexual dysfunction. Although 63.5% of athletes had dyspareunia and 51.8% urinary leakages, symptomatology was not associated with level of knowledge. However, a lower level of knowledge was associated with more stereotyped beliefs and rejection of professional healthcare for PFD. These findings confirm the need to design appropriate educational interventions to disseminate information on all the types of PFD, particularly sexual contents. The potential influence of gender stereotypes makes it appropriate to include the gender perspective in these interventions.
盆腔功能障碍（PFD）在从事跳跃、力量和跑步等运动的女性中极为常见。虽然教育方法是有用的选择，但这一特定人群的教育需求仍不清楚。本研究的目的是描述西班牙女性运动员对 PFD 的认识水平及其与症状和性别刻板印象的关系。共有 255 名女性运动员完成了一项匿名在线调查，以探讨她们对尿失禁（UI）、盆腔器官脱垂（POP）、肛门失禁（AI）和性功能障碍（SexD）的认识，以及她们的 PFD 症状和与运动相关的性别刻板信念。还探讨了教育水平和运动特征（训练量、经验和运动方式）。参与者在 POP（52.5%）、AI（64.0%）和 SexD（40%）方面的知识水平较低，但在 UI（70.8%）方面并非如此。性交困难的 PFD 投诉比例为 63.5%，尿漏为 51.8%，盆腔疼痛为 42.4%，AI 为 17.3%，POP 为 9.0%，但与知识水平无关（p>0.05）。对 UI 和 SexD 的了解较少与更大的性别刻板印象有关（p<0.05），并拒绝专业医疗保健（p=0.010）。总之，在西班牙从事田径运动训练和比赛的女性运动员中，对 PFD 的认识水平较低，主要是对性功能障碍的认识较低。尽管 63.5%的运动员有性交困难，51.8%有尿漏，但症状与知识水平无关。然而，较低的知识水平与更刻板的信念和对 PFD 的专业医疗保健的拒绝有关。这些发现证实了需要设计适当的教育干预措施，以传播所有类型的 PFD 的信息，特别是性内容。性别刻板印象的潜在影响使得在这些干预措施中纳入性别视角是合适的。
