Combined Effects of Swiss Ball Exercises and Diaphragmatic Breathing in Pregnant Females

Plain-language summary

30 to 60 percent of the pregnant females experience stress urinary incontinence depending on various factors like trimester, parity and body weight. Stress urinary incontinence is a common yet often underreported condition affecting pregnant women, characterized by involuntary leakage of urine during physical activities such as coughing, sneezing, or exercising. Stress urinary incontinence majorly occurs due to increased intra-abdominal pressure and weakened pelvic floor muscles which are further strained during pregnancy. Despite its impact on quality of life, awareness and management remains inadequate. Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles plays a critical role in managing stress urinary incontinence and Swiss ball exercises have emerged as an effective and low impact method to improve core stability and pelvic floor muscle strength. These exercises engage deep abdominal and pelvic muscles in a functional and dynamic way, potentially enhancing both physical and psychological well-being during pregnancy. . The study will be conducted as a randomized control trial involving females with stress urinary incontinence in Zia Hospital Lahore and Ittefaq Hospital Lahore. The study will be completed within 10 months of synopsis approval. A non-probability sampling technique will be employed and 42 patients will be enrolled after randomization. Participants will be divided into two groups. Group A will undergo a structured program involving Swiss ball exercises combined with diaphragmatic breathing. Group B will receive Swiss ball exercises without diaphragmatic breathing. Kegel exercises will be considered the baseline treatment. Outcome measures will include syptoms of stress urinary incontinence (using International Consultation Incontinence Questionnaire), pelvic floor muscle strength (assessed through standardized tools i.e. Modified Oxford Scale) and self-reported quality of life (using validated questionnaires i.e. King's Health Questionnaire). The data collected will be analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics version 25.

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