Open Access, Peer-reviewed
eISSN 2093-758X
    J Korean Acad Nurs. 2013 Jun;43(3):420-430. Korean.
    Published online Jun 28, 2013.
    https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2013.43.3.420
    © 2013 Korean Society of Nursing Science
    Original Article

    Effect of Kegel Exercise to Prevent Urinary and Fecal Incontinence in Antenatal and Postnatal Women: Systematic Review

    Seong-Hi Park,1 Chang-Bum Kang,2 Seon Young Jang,3 and Bo Yeon Kim4
      • 1School of Nursing, Pai Chai University, Daejeon, Korea.
      • 2Research Development Team, Korea Health Promotion Foundation, Seoul, Korea.
      • 3Office of Quality Improvement, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea.
      • 4Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, Seoul, Korea.
    • Address reprint requests to: Park, Seong-Hi. School of Nursing, Pai Chai University, 155-40, Baejae-ro, Seo-gu, Daejeon 302-735, Korea. Tel: +82-42-520-5104, Fax: +82-70-4362-6291, Email: shpark@pcu.ac.kr
    Received January 23, 2013; Accepted May 17, 2013.

    Abstract

    Purpose

    The aim of this study was to review the literature to determine whether intensive pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy and after delivery could prevent urinary and fecal incontinence.

    Methods

    Randomized controlled trials (RCT) of low-risk obstetric populations who had done Kegel exercise during pregnancy and after delivery met the inclusion criteria. Articles published between 1966 and 2012 from periodicals indexed in Ovid Medline, Embase, Scopus, KoreaMed, NDSL and other databases were selected, using the following keywords: 'Kegel, pelvic floor exercise'. The Cochrane's Risk of Bias was applied to assess the internal validity of the RCT. Fourteen selected studies were analyzed by meta-analysis using RevMan 5.1.

    Results

    Fourteen RCTs with high methodological quality, involving 6,454 women were included. They indicated that Kegel exercise significantly reduced the development of urinary and fecal incontinence from pregnancy to postpartum. Also, there was low clinical heterogeneity.

    Conclusion

    There is some evidence that for antenatal and postnatal women, Kegel exercise can prevent urinary and fecal incontinence. Therefore, a priority task is to develop standardized Kegel exercise programs for Korean pregnant and postpartum women and make efficient use of these programs.

    Keywords
    Urinary incontinence; Fecal incontinence; Meta-analysis; Pelvic floor muscle training

    Figures

    Figure 1
    Flow diagram of article selection.

    Figure 2
    Comparison outcomes of Kegel exercise versus control.

    Tables

    Table 1
    Characteristics of Selected Studies

    References

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    Cited by
    Crossref 21
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    PubMed Central 10
    Scopus 11
    Web of Science 14
    MeSH Terms
    Exercise Therapy*
    Clinical Trials as Topic
    Databases, Factual
    Fecal Incontinence/prevention & control*
    Female
    Humans
    Muscle Contraction/physiology
    Postpartum Period
    Pregnancy
    Urinary Incontinence/prevention & control*
    Metrics
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